Stem Cell Now: A Brief Introduction to the Coming Medical Revolution
- Christopher Thomas Scott
The promise of stem-cell research has captured the imagination of people around the world. Given the public's intensifying interest in the area, it was perhaps inevitable that stem-cell science would enter the 'popular science' genre. Books of this sort can excite people about research in general, acquaint them with recent developments in a specific field, equip non-specialists with factual knowledge, serve as a resource for patients or politicians, and update scientists on the rough-and-tumble of their own discipline. Rarely does a single work succeed in doing all these things well, even when that is the author's aim. And so it is with three new books about stem cells.
Christopher Scott's little book Stem Cell Now is fundamentally a primer on stem-cell research, suitable for lay readers and freshmen. It offers accessible descriptions of stem-cell science and analysis of associated ethical and political issues. Discussion of these aspects is sweeping and incomplete, but this is no pitfall for anyone seeking a grounding in the basics. The strongest chapters, which make up the first half of the book, are those dealing with factual knowledge: the properties of stem cells, their potential applications and apparent limitations. Responsibly, Scott is circumspect about existing evidence for the plasticity of certain sorts of adult stem cell; he advances no exaggerated claims about the current state of the art in human embryonic stem-cell research; and he makes plain that cell therapy is not the sole contribution it can make to human medicine.
Cell of Cells: The Global Race to Capture and Control the Stem Cell
- Cynthia Fox
Cynthia Fox's Cell of Cells is a rather big book that will be of most interest to those working in the stem-cell field. This fast-paced, journalistic, not-without-depth treatment of the issues (again, scientific, ethical and political) is peppered with gossip but still manages to be serious. As a presentation of developments in stem-cell research between 2003 and 2006, the book is already rather dated, but it is informative and provides insight into the shape of things to come. The author mounts a persuasive case for the need to conduct research using both embryonic and adult stem cells, and pointedly takes to task religious groups and others who are opposed to the use of embryos in research. The portrait that Fox paints of stem-cell science and politics, and of the talented (sometimes flawed) individuals involved, is faithful to reality. She pitches her account squarely in the context of competition between individual scientists, labs and nations, not all of which have been proceeding honourably in the race to revolutionize medicine using stem cells. Few of the mainstream players are missed out. An entire chapter, 'Biopolis', is dedicated to Singapore (where I am based), which punches well above its weight in the stem-cell field. The Biopolis, a conglomeration of glamorous institutes with a world-class infrastructure, is just one of many places where Fox conducted a vast number of interviews, attended conferences and generally did her homework. The author has laboured to be thorough, and tells an interesting story.
Stem Cell Wars: Inside Stories from the Frontlines
- Eve Herold
Eve Herold's Stem Cell Wars is a good resource for patients and is also appropriate for lay readers. It is light on science but heavy on compassion and good sense. The bulk of Herold's discussion of the ethical and political controversies surrounding stem-cell research is confined to the United States, where policy-makers have shamelessly played into the hands of well-organized, well-funded, 'pro-life' lobbyists. Herold does a fine job of bringing to the fore the way that religiosity continues to polarize the nation with respect to all matters concerning the moral status of early human life. Herold, like Fox and Scott, dedicates pages to the stem-cell fraud perpetrated by Woo Suk Hwang in South Korea. None of the authors, it must be said, adds much that is new on the affair, which was comprehensively covered at the time by several science writers, notably Nature's David Cyranowski (see, for example, Nature 438, 1056–1057; 2005).
The principal themes that surface in these three books are now familiar. First, there has been a mischievous use of facts by opponents of embryonic stem-cell research. The wilful misunderstanding of important differences between adult and embryonic stem cells has skewed the moral debate and stalled progress. Second, researchers using adult and embryonic stem cells face major technical challenges, some of which may be insurmountable, and it remains doubtful whether either stem-cell type will be the medical panacea that some have proposed. Third, scientists operate in a fiercely competitive environment — reputations stand or fall on the basis of publications and the grant money required to get them. Against this background, it is unsurprising that frauds have been committed and that sloppy science has seeped into some top-tier journals. Finally, it is a fact that every day, people around the world become ill, suffer and die. Despite this, many misguided citizens seek to use governments to impose on others their own particular metaphysical conceptions of the sacredness of human life. No essentially religious view should dominate policy in a modern democratic society.
Those interested in stem cells should be mindful of what they hope to gain from their reading before cracking the spine of any of these books. Each has something to offer, but no one book is tailored for everyone.
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Burley, J. The stem-cell story. Nature 447, 146–147 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/447146a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/447146a
