Stem cell research has the potential to affect the lives of millions of people around the world. This research is now regularly front-page news, and realizing the promise of mesenchymal stem cells for yielding new medical therapies will require us to grapple with more than just scientific uncertainties. "Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the Heart - From Bench to Bedside" presents the cytobiological characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells from the isolation, culture, transmembrane ion currents, migration and differentiation in vitro to the repairing of injured myocardium and tissue reconstruction in vivo, including the results of basic research and the real possibility for treatments and ultimately for cures for cardiac diseases for which adequate therapies do not exist. The book is intended for clinical stem cell researchers in cardiovasology, hematology, cytobiology, molecular biology, cell and tissue engineering, and other related fields. Jian-an Wang, MD, PhD, Professor of Cardiology at Zhejiang University and investigator at Loma Linda University, Southern California, has broad expertise in the molecular and cellular biological processes underlying cardiovascular disease. He has won the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Medal of Honor.