ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that there is a common understanding of stem cells whose influence on both science and society is strong and problematic: the image of stem cells as clearly identifiable entities with certain intrinsic properties that can be used for therapeutic purposes. In the first part I shortly sketch how it prevails in society and reinforces certain problematic dynamics therein such as stem cell hype. In the second part, I shall investigate its role in science, drawing on debates about stem cell concepts among philosophers of biology and stem cell biologists. This analysis reveals conceptual and epistemic problems in studying and clinically applying stem cells on the basis of which their common understanding can be criticized as being untenable. That it nonetheless persists can be explained by two constituents of the field of stem cell research: clinical goals and methodological reductionism. I conclude that both of these (1) have a somewhat misleading influence on the understanding of stem cells and the choice of concepts and methods in studying them, (2) set too narrow limits on the scope and depth of stem cell research, and (3) contribute to unreasonable expectations which in the end put patients and science’s reputation at risk.
