Handbook of Stem Cells, Two-Volume Set: Volume 1-Embryonic Stem Cells; Volume 2-Adult & Fetal Stem Cells (v. 1) [Hardcover]

Robert Lanza (Author), Irving Weissman (Author), James Thomson (Author), Roger Pedersen (Author), Brigid Hogan (Author), John Gearhart (Author), Helen Blau (Author), Douglas Melton (Author), Malcolm Moore (Author), Catherine Verfaillie (Author), E. Donnall Thomas (Author), Michael West (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0124366430 | ISBN-13: 978-0124366435 | Publication Date: September 28, 2004

New discoveries in the field of stem cell research have frequently appeared in the news and in scientific literature. Research in this area promises to lead to new therapies for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and a wide variety of other diseases.

This two-volume reference integrates this exciting area of biology, combining the prerequisites for a general understanding of adult and embryonic stem cells, the tools, methods, and experimental protocols needed to study and characterize stem cells and progenitor populations, as well as a presentation by the world's experts of what is currently known about each specific organ system.

The editors of the Handbook of Stem Cells include: Robert Lanza, Helen Blau, John Gearhart, Brigid Hogan, Douglas Melton, Malcolm Moore, Roger Pedersen, E. Donnall Thomas, James Thomson, Catherine Verfaillie, Irving Weissman, and Michael West. The Editorial Board includes: W. French Anderson, Peter Andrews, Anthony Atala, Jose Cibelli, Giulio Cossu, Robert Edwards, Martin Evans, Elaine Fuchs, Margaret Fuller, Fred Gage, Richard Gardner, Margaret Goodell, Ronald Green, William Haseltine, Joseph Itskovitz-Eldor, Rudolf Jaenisch, Ihor Lemischka, Dame Anne McLaren, Richard Mulligan, Stuart Orkin, Martin Pera, Benjamin Reubinoff, Janet Rossant, Hans Scholer, Austin Smith, Evan Snyder, Davor Solter, Alan Trounson, and Leonard Zon.

This comprehensive set should be a much-needed addition to the library of students and researchers alike.

* Provides comprehensive coverage on this highly topical subject
* Contains contributions by the foremost authorities and premiere names in the field of stem cell research
* The accompanying CD-ROM includes over 250 color figures

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Handbook of Stem Cells, edited by Robert Lanza and colleagues, is an ambitious new text that achieves extraordinary completeness and inclusiveness...the editors have succeeded in putting together a reference that is broad enough in scope, but sufficiently detailed and rigorous, to be of real interest to both new and seasoned investigators in the field. ...In providing this treatise, which covers the history, biology, methods and applications of stem cells, the editors and authors have succeeded in establishing a conceptual framework and a common language for the field. In so doing, they have ensured that this two-volume set will serve as a benchmark reference in stem cell biology for years to come."
-Steve Goldman, University of Rechester Medical Center, in NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (April 2005, Volume 7, No. 4)

"I am firmly convinced this is a set every biologist and physician, whatsoever his specialty, must have on his desk. ...The reader can benefit from the contributions by the foremost authorities and premiere names (more than 300 contributors; addresses provided) in the field of stem cell research. The two-volume collection of articles (155 chapters) covers everything of the present state of stem cell science, from the care and feeding of mouse stem cells to the possible use of embryonic stem cells in spinal cord repair."
--CarloAlberto Redi, Book review editor for the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HISTOCHEMISTRY (49/1)
"These books make an invaluable contribution to the education of researchers and clinicians both of the present day and of the future. They should be available in libraries of all biology and medical schools as well as those of companies and research institutions."
--Ian Wilmut in Times Higher Education Supplement

"...a two volume collection of scientific articles covering everything from the care and feeding of mouse stems cells to the possible use of embryonic stem cells in spinal cord repairs. With 155 chapters and more than 300 contributors, the handbook is the result of a two-year effort to present the state of stem-cell science...The first volume focuses on embryonic stem cells, those found in human and animal embryos. Volume two covers stem cells drawn from fetuses and the 'adult' stem cells available in the bodies of children and adults...Actors Mary Tyler Moore and Christopher Reeve, who have previously lobbied for stem-cell research, also contributed chapters."
-Lisa Eckelbecker, Telegram & Gazette

"...a collection of definitive articles by the world's experts... the research outlined in this volume is equally certain to contribute to cures for cancer and for a large number of other less famous diseases - many of mysterious origin - that presently represent terrible afflictions for humanity."
--Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Sciences (from the Foreword to Volume 1)

"This two-volume book is a much-needed attempt to bring together the cumulative work of many investigators in widely diverse aspects of stem cell studies."
--E. Donnal Thomas, Nobel Laureate Medicine/Physiology, 1990 (from the Foreword to Volume 2)

"...the Handbook of Stem Cells is highly recommended primarily as a reference for scientists in the field of animal development...Academic medical libraries and other academic or special libraries serving researchers in cell and developmental biology will particularly benefit from having this handbook available."
--Susan Kendall, Health Sciences Librarian, Michigan State University Library in E-Streams (February 2005)

Book Description

A complete overview of the field of stem cells, providing the background, toolos, methods and experimental protocols needed for further research.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1760 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0124366430
• ISBN-13: 978-0124366435
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.2 x 6.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,665,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Robert Lanza is Chief Scientific Officer at Advanced Cell Technology, and Adjunct Professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He has hundreds of publications and inventions, and over two dozen scientific books: among them, "Principles of Tissue Engineering," which is recognized as the definitive reference in the field. Others include One World: The Health & Survival of the Human Species in the 21st Century (Foreword by former President Jimmy Carter), and the "Handbook of Stem Cells" and "Essentials of Stem Cell Biology," which are considered the definitive references in stem cell research.

Dr. Lanza received his BA and MD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was both a University Scholar and Benjamin Franklin Scholar. He was also a Fulbright Scholar, and was part of the team that cloned the world's first human embryo for the purpose of generating embryonic stem cells. Dr. Lanza's work has been crucial to our understanding nuclear transfer and stem cell biology. In 2001 he was also the first to clone an endangered species (a Gaur), and in 2003, he cloned an endangered wild ox (a Banteng) from the frozen skin cells of an animal that had died at the San Diego Zoo nearly a quarter-of-a-century earlier. Lanza and his colleagues were also the first to demonstrate that nuclear transplantation could be used to reverse the aging process and to generate immune-compatible tissues, including the first organ tissue-engineered from cloned cells. One of his greatest early achievements came from his demonstration that techniques used in preimplantation genetic diagnosis could be used to generate human embryonic stem (hES) cells without embryonic destruction.

Lanza and colleagues have also succeeded in differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into retinal (RPE) cells, and has shown that they provide long-term benefit in animal models of vision loss. Using this technology some forms of blindness may be curable, including macular degeneration and Stargardt disease, a currently untreatable form eye disease that causes blindness in teenagers and young adults. Lanza's company (ACT) received FDA approval to begin clinical trials using them to treat degenerative eye diseases. These two clinical trials began in July 2011. Recently, ACT received similar approval for the first human embryonic stem cell trial in Europe.

Lanza has been a major player in the scientific revolution that has led to the documentation that nuclear transfer/ transcription factors can restore developmental potential in a differentiated cell. One of his recent successes was showing that it is feasible to generate functional oxygen-carrying red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells. The blood cells were comparable to normal transfusable blood and could serve as a potentially inexhaustible source of "universal" blood. His team also discovered how to generate functional hemangioblasts - a population of "ambulance" cells- from hES cells. In animals, these cells quickly repaired vascular damage, cutting the death rate after a heart attack in half and restoring the blood flow to ischemic limbs that might otherwise have to be amputated. Recently, Lanza and a team lead by Kwang-Soo Kim at Harvard University reported a safe method for generating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Human iPS cells were created from skin cells by direct delivery of proteins, thus eliminating the harmful risks associated with genetic manipulation. This new method provides a potentially safe source of patient-specific stem cells for translation into the clinic. The Editors of the prestigious journal Nature selected Lanza and Kim's paper on protein reprogramming as one of five "Research Highlights" of 2009. Discover magazine stated, "Lanza's single-minded quest to usher in this new age has paid dividends in scientific insights and groundbreaking discoveries."

Dr. Lanza has received numerous awards, including an NIH Director's Award (2010) for "Translating Basic Science Discoveries into New and Better Treatments"; the 2010 'Movers and Shakers' Who Will Shape Biotech Over the Next 20 Years (BioWorld)(along with Craig Venter and President Barack Obama); the 2007 100 Most Inspiring People in the Life-Sciences Industry (PharmaVOICE, "For his discoveries 'behind the medicines making a significant impact on the pipelines of today and of the future'"; the 2007 Outstanding Contribution in Contemporary Biology Award (Brown University, "For his groundbreaking research and contributions in stem cell science and biology"; the 2006 All-Star Award for Biotechnology (MA High Tech, for "pushing stem cells' future"); the 2005 Rave Award for Medicine (Wired magazine, "For eye-opening work on embryonic stem cells"); and Lanza is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who's Who in Science and Engineering; Who's Who in American Education, and Who's Who in Technology, among others. Dr. Lanza has served in numerous national and international leadership capacities, including Conference Co-Chairman, International Symposium on Stem Cells (Tianjin, China 2008); Stem Cell Advisory Committee, International Stem Cell Registry; He has given keynote addresses at dozens of national and international societies, including ASAIO (2001), Annual Molecular & Cellular Biology Symposium (2002), Biotechniques Live/Drug Discovery Technology & Development World Congress (2005), International Stem Cell Conference (2007), Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS)(2007), Translational Regenerative Medicine Forum (2010), among others.

Dr. Lanza and his research have been featured in almost every media outlet in the world, including CNN, TIME, Newsweek, People, as well as the front pages of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, among others. Lanza has worked with some of the greatest thinkers of our time, including Nobel laureates Gerald Edelman and Rodney Porter, renowned Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner (the "Father of modern behaviorism"), Jonas Salk (discoverer of the Polio vaccine), and heart transplant pioneer Christiaan Barnard. His current research and work at Advanced Cell Technology focuses on stem cells and regenerative medicine and their potential to provide therapies for some of the world's most deadly and debilitating conditions.

In 2007, Lanza published a feature article, "A New Theory of the Universe" in The American Scholar, a leading intellectual journal which has previously published works by Albert Einstein, Margaret Mead, and Carl Sagan, among others. His theory places biology above the other sciences in an attempt to solve one of nature's biggest puzzles, the theory of everything that other disciplines have been pursuing for the last century. This new view has become known as Biocentrism. In 2009, he co-authored a book "Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe" with leading astronomer Bob Berman. In biocentrism, space and time are forms of animal sense perception, rather than external physical objects. Understanding this more fully yields answers to several major puzzles of mainstream science, and offers a new way of understanding everything from the microworld (for instance, the reason for Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and the double-slit experiment) to the forces, constants, and laws that shape the universe. Nobel laureate E. Donnall Thomas stated "Any short statement does not do justice to such a scholarly work. The work is a scholarly consideration of science and philosophy that brings biology into the central role in unifying the whole."

You can read more about Dr. Robert Lanza's work at:

http://www.robertlanza.com/
http://www.robertlanzabiocentrism.com/
http://www.advancedcell.com/company/leadership-team/senior-executive-officers/