AbstractDuchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a devastating X‐linked muscle disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness caused by the lack of dystrophin expression at the sarcolemma of muscle fibers. Although various approaches to delivering dystrophin in dystrophic muscle have been investigated extensively (e.g., cell and gene therapy), there is still no treatment that alleviates the muscle weakness in this common inherited muscle disease. The transplantation of myoblasts can enable transient delivery of dystrophin and improve the strength of injected dystrophic muscle, but this approach has various limitations, including immune rejection, poor cellular survival rates, and the limited spread of the injected cells. The isolation of muscle cells that can overcome these limitations would enhance the success of myoblast transplantation significantly. The efficiency of cell transplantation might be improved through the use of stem cells, which display unique features, including (1) self‐renewal with production of progeny, (2) appearance early in development and persistence throughout life, and (3) long‐term proliferation and multipotency. For these reasons, the development of muscle stem cells for use in transplantation or gene transfer (ex vivo approach) as treatment for patients with muscle disorders has become more attractive in the past few years. In this paper, we review the current knowledge regarding the isolation and characterization of stem cells isolated from skeletal muscle by highlighting their biological features and their relationship to satellite cells as well as other populations of stem cells derived from other tissues. We also describe the remarkable ability of stem cells to regenerate skeletal muscle and their potential use to alleviate the muscle weakness associated with DMD. Birth Defects Research (Part C) 69:230–237, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.