To know whether there are theories of development in developmental biology, one will need
to know how to recognize them. This is, in fact, far from a trivial task. Biologists use the …

This chapter brings a philosophical perspective to the concept of stem cell. Three general
questions both clarify the concept of stem cell and emphasize its ambiguities:(1) How should …

Everybody knows what a stem cell is, and yet nobody knows what a stem cell is. Stem cells
are traditionally characterized by two functional properties: self-renewal and differentiation …

Developmental biology offers descriptions and explanations of the processes involved in the
development of living entities. But does it formulate theories? If it does not, does this raise …

This paper presents an account of the nature of stem cells based on the philosophical
concept of disposition. It is argued that stem cells can be conceived as dispositional objects …

Ontologies of living things are increasingly grounded on the concepts and practices of
current life science. Biological development is a process, undergone by living things, which …

An innovative theory proposes a new therapeutic strategy to break the stalemate in the war
on cancer. It is called cancer stem cell (CSC) theory, and Lucie Laplane offers a …

The characteristic properties of stem cells–notably their ability to self-renew and to
differentiate–have meant that they have traditionally been viewed as distinct from most other …

The aim of this paper is to assess the relevance of functional ascriptions used to explain
cancer. I do that in two steps. In the first part of the paper I briefly analyse different functional …

The aim of this paper is to present a critical analysis of the kind of biological systems
identified in the main explanatory theories of cancer (ie Somatic Mutation Theory and Tissue …