Stemcellspossesstheremarkableabilityofextensiveself-renewalanddifferentiationintospecificcelllineages,andtheyplayessentialrolesindevelopmentandadulttissuehomeostasis.Duetotheircriticalimportanceinnormalphysiologyandthepromiseforuseinregenerativemedicinetotreatavarietyofdiseases,stemcellshaveattractedextensiveresearchinterestinrecentyears.AsChina'spremiumin-ternationaljournalwithabroadscopeincellandmolecularbiology,CellResearchhaswitnessedmoreandmoresubmissionsonstemcellresearch.Indeed,alongwiththetraditionalstrengthsofthejournalinmolecularimmunology,cancerbiology,andplantmolecularphysiology,stemcellresearchhasgraduallyandnaturallyevolvedintoanewgrowthpointofCellResearch.Reflectingthegrowinginterestofbothourreadersandauthorsinthisexcitingandexpandingfield,wearepleasedtopresentthisSpecialIssueonStemCellResearch.
