This hugely important volume presents in a single text many novel aspects of stem cell biology with respect to scientific endeavors and future applications. During the past few years, stem cell research has metamorphosed into distinct and specialized avenues of research. What makes this book unique is that it not only covers these varied areas of research, but examines in detail some of the key pharmacological issues that up to now have not been addressed in a single volume.

Zusammenfassung
Signi?cant advances in stem cell research and their potentials for therap- tic applications have attracted the attention of the scienti?c community and captured the imagination of society as a whole. Not so long ago, the study of most stem cells, other than those that regenerated the haematopoietic system, was rather obscure and limited to a relatively small number of researchers and laboratories. The uproar over stem cells really began in 1998 with the s- cessful derivation of pluripotent human embryonic stem (ES) cells by James Thomson and co-workers. This breakthrough and the subsequent generation of specialized human cells in vitro led to a paradigm shift within the sci- ti?c community, which transformed this specialized endeavour from a topic of scienti?c interest to a line of investigation with the potential to generate cells - pable of treating serious ailments, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative disorders. Thus the dawn of regenerative medicine has spawned from the somewhat esoteric study of stem cells. Since 1998, extensive research endeavours have been devoted to the study of both embryonic and adult stem cells. Early reports suggested that adult stem cells had a higher plasticity than previously believed, perhaps even comparable with that demonstrated by embryonic stem cells, but several observations of the so-called transdifferentiation capacity and plasticity of adult stem cells have not been repeated. These reports, however, encouraged on-going debates about the capacity of adult versus embryonic stem cells and their potential use in regenerative medicine.

Inhalt
Factors Involved in Self-Renewal and Pluripotency of Embryonic Stem Cells.- Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Embryoid Bodies: An In Vitro Model of Eutherian Pregastrulation Development and Early Gastrulation.- Embryonic Stem Cells: A Novel Tool for the Study of Antiangiogenesis and Tumor-Induced Angiogenesis.- Cardiac Repair by Embryonic Stem-Derived Cells.- Cardiomyocytes from Human Embryonic Stem Cells.- Autocrine and Intracrine Signaling for Cardiogenesis in Embryonic Stem Cells: A Clue for the Development of Novel Differentiating Agents.- Therapeutic Potential of Stem Cells in Diabetes.- The Stem Cell Continuum: A New Model of Stem Cell Regulation.- Markers of Adult Tissue-Based Stem Cells.- Designer Cytokines for Human Haematopoietic Progenitor Cell Expansion: Impact for Tissue Regeneration.- Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Isolation, In Vitro Expansion and Characterization.- Neovascularization and Cardiac Repair by Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells.- The Potential Use of Myogenic Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine.- Neural Stem Cells: On Where They Hide, in Which Disguise, and How We May Lure Them Out.- Cell Transplantation for Patients with Parkinson's Disease.- Postmodern Biology: (Adult) (Stem) Cells Are Plastic, Stochastic, Complex, and Uncertain.