Table 2.

Advantages and disadvantages of different modeling approaches.

Disease model	Advantage	Disadvantage
Animal (mouse, rat)	In-vivo context of whole organism Relatively standardized protocols	No comprehensive reflection of human disease No animal models for some diseases Laborious and costly maintenance Ethical concerns
Classical tissue culture	Stable, standardized and reproducible Economical High-throughput assays possible Ethically unbiased	No comprehensive reflection of organism/systems biology No comprehensive disease modeling
hESCs	Realistic model of human disease Patients-specific cells possible via therapeutic cloning	Ethical concerns Limited availability of human oocytes Partially immature phenotype
iPSCs	Realistic model of human disease Patient-specific cells Pluripotent and unlimited supply Ethically unbiased	Partially immature phenotype Uncontrolled viral integration into genome during iPSC derivation poses limitations for comprehensive conclusions, non-viral derivation methods required
Adult stem cells	Realistic model of human disease Patient-specific cells Ethically unbiased	Partially immature phenotype Supply very limited Isolation and expansion in culture very difficult Capacity of unlimited self-renewal and plasticity unclear