Application of cell-based therapy to the field of regenerative medicine is one of the most promising and exciting areas of biomedical research, an emerging clinical strategy that is based on the use of specific cell types to provide selective therapeutic benefit.Identification of new sources and types of stem cells, discovery of "additional/unex pected" differentiation pathways, along with major advances in purification, culture, and tissue engineering tech nologies are all contributing to an explosion of research publications, initiation of clinical trials, and tremendous public interest.Cell-based therapy is now being investigated in many different clinical settings, such as cancer, au toimmune diseases, immunotherapy, correction of genetic abnormalities, even for cardiac and nerve damage repair.However, the broad scope and remarkable potential of cellular therapy also presents many challenges that will need to be overcome before cell-based regenerative medicine can become the standard of care for a significant percentage of patients.