Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T20:23:19.077Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Stem Cell Uncertainty Principle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Melinda Bonnie Fagan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Stem cells are defined as having capacities for both self-renewal and differentiation. Many different entities satisfy this working definition. I show that this general stem cell concept is relative to a cell lineage, temporal duration, and characters of interest. Experiments specify values for these variables. So claims about stem cells must be understood in terms of experimental methods used to identify them. Furthermore, the stem cell concept imposes evidential constraints on interpretation of experimental results. From these constraints, it follows that claims about stem cell capacities are inherently uncertain. This result has important implications for stem cell research.

Type
General Philosophy of Science
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 80 , Issue 5 , December 2013 , pp. 945 - 957
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

Thanks to Irv Weissman, Lisa Lloyd, Leo Aguila, Paul Simmons, and participants in the PSA session “Ontological Issues in the Life Sciences” (San Diego, CA, November 2012). The article has also benefited from comments on earlier versions presented at ISHPSSB (International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology; University of Utah, July 2011), the European Science Foundation Systems Biology Workshop (Aarhus University, August 2011), and the Baker Institute for Public Policy (Rice University, September 2011). Funding was provided by the Humanities Research Center at Rice University and a grant from the Mosle Research Foundation.

References

Adewumi, O., et al. 2007. “Characterization of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines by the International Stem Cell Initiative.” Nature Biotechnology 25:803–16.Google ScholarPubMed
Askenasy, Nadir. 2006. “From the Atom to the Cell.” Stem Cells and Development 15:488–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, Nik, Kraft, Alison, and Martin, Paul. 2006. “The Promissory Pasts of Blood Stem Cells.” BioSocieties 1:329–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagan, Melinda. 2013. Philosophy of Stem Cell Biology. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giere, Ronald. 1988. Explaining Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loeffler, Markus, and Potten, Christopher. 1997. “Stem Cells and Cellular Pedigrees.” In Stem Cells, ed. Potten, Christopher, 1–27. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Melton, D., and Cowan, C.. 2009. “Stemness: Definitions, Criteria, and Standards.” In Essentials of Stem Biology, 2nd ed., ed. Lanza, R. et al., xxii–xxix. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Potten, Christopher, and Loeffler, Markus. 1990. “Stem Cells: Attributes, Cycles, Spirals, Pitfalls and Uncertainties.” Development 110:1001–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ramalho-Santos, M., and Willenbring, H.. 2007. “On the Origin of the Term ‘Stem Cell.’” Cell Stem Cell 1:35–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Till, James, and McCulloch, Ernest. 1961. “A Direct Measurement of the Radiation Sensitivity of Normal Mouse Bone Marrow Cells.” Radiation Research 14:213–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vogel, H., Niewisch, H., and Matioli, G.. 1969. “Stochastic Development of Stem Cells.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 22:249–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zipori, Dov. 2004. “The Nature of Stem Cells.” Nature Reviews Genetics 5:873–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed