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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Isolation and Characterization of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Human Umbilical Cord and Fetal Placenta
Published on: April 3, 2017
Do we still need human embryonic stem cells for stem cell-based therapies? Epistemic and ethical aspects
1Department of Medical Ethics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Kristina.Hug@med.lu.se
Abstract:
While scientific community disagrees about similarities and differences between human embryonic stem (hES) cells and human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells, some politicians embrace translational hiPS cell research as a replacement for translational hES cell research. We examine the ethical relevance of the main differences between hES and hiPS cell-based therapies and discuss whether, given the current state of knowledge, certain differences are essential. We discuss whether well-founded preferences can be made in hypothetical scenarios with varying levels of patient safety, treatment efficacy, treatment accessibility and ethical controversy.
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