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This book provides a comprehensive overview of the molecular basis of developmental and stem cell regulation. It revisits some of the classical models of developmental biology and puts them in context with the findings of modern stem cell research and developmental biology. Biomedical research is embarking on a new era due to new tools, which are exemplified by stem cell technologies, single-cell transcriptome analysis, and live imaging at a single-cell resolution. Publications based on cutting-edge technologies do often not provide the readers with deep biological backgrounds. This causes the risk that precious data are reduced to highly specific descriptions without sufficient biological contexts.Contemporary developmental biology on the other hand as written in many textbooks, is to a significant extent based on conceptions backdated many decades ago, and is not necessarily supported by recent findings. Yet, the prevailing classical notions tend to mislead modern biomedical researches.This book not only presents current models for developmental processes but also reinterprets and re-evaluates classic observations, thus linking classical and modern worlds of developmental biology. Spanning from molecular mechanisms to highly embryological matters it provides a bridge between these different disciplines.Written for advanced students of developmental and stem cell biology, researchers and teaching scholars, this book provides a new road map to modern developmental biology and stem cell biology.

This book is a compilation of the bench experience of leading experts from various research labs involved in the cutting edge area of research. The authors describe the use of stem cells both as part of the combinatorial therapeutic intervention approach and as tools (disease model) during drug development, highlighting the shift from a conventional symptomatic treatment strategy to addressing the root cause of the disease process. The book is a continuum of the previously published book entitled'Stem Cells: from Drug to Drug Discovery'which was published in 2017.

This book summarizes early pioneering achievements in the field of human neural stem cell (hNSC) research and combines them with the latest advances in stem cell technology, including reprogramming and gene editing. The powerful potential of hNSC to generate and repair the developing and adult CNS has been confirmed by numerous experimental in vitro and in vivo studies. The book presents methods for hNSC derivation and discusses the mechanisms underlying NSC in vitro fate decisions and their in vivo therapeutic mode of action.The long-standing dogma that the human central nervous system (CNS) lacks the ability to regenerate was refuted at the end of the 20th century, when evidence of the presence of neurogenic zones in the adult human brain was found. These neurogenic zones are home to human neural stem cells (hNSCs), which are capable of self-renewing and differentiating into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. NSCs isolated from human CNS have a number of clinical advantages, especially the innate potential to differentiate into functional neural cells. Nevertheless, their full clinical exploitation has been hindered by limited access to the tissue and low expansion potential. The search for an alternative to CNS sources of autologous, therapeutically competent hNSCs was the driving force for the many studies proving the in vitro plasticity of different somatic stem cells to generate NSCs and their functional progeny. Now the era of induced pluripotent stem cells has opened entirely new opportunities to achieve research and therapeutic goals with the aid of hNSCs.

Anaerobiosis and Stemness: An evolutionary paradigm provides a context for understanding the many complexities and evolutionary features of stem cells and the clinical implications of anaerobiosis stem cells. Combining theoretical and experimental knowledge, the authors provide a broad understanding of how the absence or low concentration of oxygen can play an influential role in the maintenance and self-renewal of stem cells and stem cell differentiation. This understanding has clinical implications for the fields of regenerative medicine, cancer biology and transplantation, as well as cell engineering and cell therapy. Anaerobiosis and Stemness is an important resource for stem cell and developmental biologists alike, as well as oncologists, cancer biologists, and researchers using stem cells for regeneration. - Highlights the molecular and evolutionary features of stem cells which make them so important to all biological research - Explores methods of isolation, characterization, activation, and maintenance of stem cells - Includes models for clinical application in regenerative medicine, cancer therapy, and transplantation

It was not until recent years that the study of polyamines, their mechanisms of synthesis, and the roles they play in metabolism have flourished, becoming a fertile field of intense research. Polyamines in Fungi: Their Distribution, Metabolism, and Role in Cell Differentiation and Morphogenesis provides a complete overview of its topic. It is the f

Gene regulatory networks are the most complex, extensive control systems found in nature. The interaction between biology and evolution has been the subject of great interest in recent years. The author, Eric Davidson, has been instrumental in elucidating this relationship. He is a world renowned scientist and a major contributor to the field of developmental biology. The Regulatory Genome beautifully explains the control of animal development in terms of structure/function relations of inherited regulatory DNA sequence, and the emergent properties of the gene regulatory networks composed of these sequences. New insights into the mechanisms of body plan evolution are derived from considerations of the consequences of change in developmental gene regulatory networks. Examples of crucial evidence underscore each major concept. The clear writing style explains regulatory causality without requiring a sophisticated background in descriptive developmental biology. This unique text supersedes anything currently available in the market. - The only book in the market that is solely devoted to the genomic regulatory code for animal development - Written at a conceptual level, including many novel synthetic concepts that ultimately simplify understanding - Presents a comprehensive treatment of molecular control elements that determine the function of genes - Provides a comparative treatment of development, based on principles rather than description of developmental processes - Considers the evolutionary processes in terms of the structural properties of gene regulatory networks - Includes 42 full-color descriptive figures and diagrams

The interaction between biology and evolution has been the subject of great interest in recent years. Because evolution is such a highly debated topic, a biologically oriented discussion will appeal not only to scientists and biologists but also to the interested lay person. This topic will always be a subject of controversy and therefore any breaking information regarding it is of great interest.The author is a recognized expert in the field of developmental biology and has been instrumental in elucidating the relationship between biology and evolution. The study of evolution is of interest to many different kinds of people and Genomic Regulatory Systems: In Development and Evolution is written at a level that is very easy to read and understand even for the nonscientist.• Contents Include• Regulatory Hardwiring: A Brief Overview of the Genomic Control Apparatus and Its Causal Role in Development and Evolution • Inside the Cis-Regulatory Module: Control Logic and How the Regulatory Environment Is Transduced into Spatial Patterns of Gene Expression• Regulation of Direct Cell-Type Specification in Early Development• The Secret of the Bilaterians: Abstract Regulatory Design in Building Adult Body Parts• Changes That Make New Forms: Gene Regulatory Systems and the Evolution of Body Plans

Over the past few decades numerous scientists have called for a unification of the fields of embryo development, genetics, and evolution. Each field has glaring holes in its ability to explain the fundamental phenomena of life. In this book, the author shows how the phenomenon of cell differentiation, considered in its temporal and spatial aspects during embryogenesis, provides a starting point for a unified theory of multicellular organisms (plants, fungi and animals), including their evolution and genetics. This unification is based on the recent discovery of differentiation waves by the author and his colleagues, described in the appendices, and illustrated by a flip movie prepared by a medical artist. To help the reader through the many fields covered, a glossary is included.This book will be of great value to the researcher and practicing doctors/scientists alike. The research students will receive an in-depth tutorial on the topics covered. The seasoned researcher will appreciate the applications and the gold mine of other possibilities for novel research topics.