Adult Stem Cell Therapy vs Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy
[edit] Adult Stem Cells
Advantages:
(a) adult stem cells can be isolated from the patient, individual-specific and expanded in vitro (cardiac stem cells, neural stem cells, hMSCs)
(b) there are no bioethical concerns
(c) there is less risk associated with tumor development from direct engraftment with adult stem cells
Disadvantages:
(a) multipotency is limited in adult stem cells (but this could be an advantage, because there will be lower risk of tumor formation)
(b) there is limited expansion for some adult stem cells, such as hematopoietic stem cells
(c) those with higher passage numbers are not as effective
[edit] Embryonic stem cells (ESCs)
Advantages:
(a) pluripotent
(b) indefinite self-renewal
Disadvantages:
(a) immune rejection
(b) there are bioethical concerns
(c) potential tumor formation
