Stem Cells Are Everywhere

An engaging introduction to stem cells for young scientists

How do you heal when you cut your skin or break a bone? How does your body keep making new blood or brain cells, or even second teeth? How does a plant keep growing larger? The answers lie in stem cells, which are found in every growing plant and animal. Keeping the subject simple enough for young readers, a pioneer of stem cell research explains cells, tissues, normal growth, what can go wrong, and how to fix it.

Irv Weissman, MD, is the director of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, he was the first to purify blood-forming stem cells in both mice and humans. He is a winner of the Robert Koch prize and the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science. He lives in Palo Alto, California.