Stem Cells in Human Reproduction: Basic Science and Therapeutic Potential PDF

Preface

After the first edition published in 2007 that became a best seller, the continuous scientific developments in the field have prompted us to produce the second edition of this book. As it happens in life and science, some of the novel and promising data presented in the first edition have been confirmed, some not, and new breakthrough achievements have been accomplished.

Stem Cells in Reproductive Medicine, Basic Science and Therapeutic Potential, second edition, updates the revolutionary advances in stem cell science that may potentially impact on human reproductive medicine. From the first edition, scientists and clinicians, leaders in the field, have been invited to update their work, while new authors have also been incorporated due to the relevance of their findings.

Section I entitled the crystal ball, which introduces the clinical and the ethical views of the gamete generation from stem cells, probably one of the main key points of the stem cell field in reproductive medicine, is by two recognized opinion leaders Antonio Pellicer and Guido Pennings. Section II devoted to the female gamete updates gametogenesis by Emre Seli as a baseline to understand the differentiation of the female gamete from embryonic stem cells (ESC) from the genetic and epigenetic perspectives by the group of Orly Lacham-Chaplan and Rene Reijo Pera, respectively. The germline potential of stem cells derived from nongonadal tissues, specifically fetal porcine skin, is also presented by Julang Li. The controversial issue of the existence of germline stem cells in adult ovaries is also addressed in an exceptional chapter by Roger Gosden. Section III first describes the male gamete by Drs Garrido and Meseguer and the differentiation of this gamete from mouse ESC using two different genetic approaches by the groups of Niels Giejsen and Karim Nayernia. Herman Tournaye has produced an outstanding update of the adult stem cell population in the mouse testis. In section IV, the research on the differentiation of trophoblast from hESC has been updated by Ted Golos, and new chapters have been introduced concerning unexpected sources of pluripotent cells such as Wharton's Jelly by Ariff Bongso and amniotic fluid by the group of Antony Atala. The search for the stem cell niche in the human endometrium is presented by the groups of Caroline Gargett and Carlos Simo´n, and the relevance of bone marrow for stem cell production by Agustin Zapata.

The new developments in hESC research are presented in section V. The use of hESC as a model to investigate human implantation is reported by Harry Moore. The derivation of stem cell lines without causing the destruction of the human embryo is being further updated by Irina Kliminskaya, state-of-the-art cutting-edge technologies such as reprogramming is introduced by Roberto Ensenat and nuclear transfer in relation to reproductive medicine by Bjo¨rn Heindryckx. Although we are still some distance away from therapeutic applications, a new service provided to IVF clinics with the creation of customized stem cells is presented by Ana Krtolica.

We hope that the readers will find the contents of Stem Cells in Reproductive Medicine, Basic Science and Therapeutic Potential, second edition, useful as a reference and a valuable tool for the improvement of reproductive medicine from the cell biology perspective.