Table 1.

Advantages and disadvantages of the various strategies that were discussed.

	Genetic modification	Pharmaceutical administration	Optimization of extracellular factors
Advantages	(i) Has stable effect (ii) Can directly target specific cell survival pathways	(i) Has the ability to effect multiple pathways at once (ii) Can lead to release of growth factors and cytokines	(i) Takes into account the stem cell niche (ii) Has potential to prime cells to endure the postinfarct environment
Disadvantages	(i) May need multiple genes modified to have a significant effect	(i) Has potential side effects	(i) Has multiple aspects of environment may need to be optimized to have significant effect