Dr. Joy Kong explains why people think stem cell therapy requires living cells to work. Dead cells can't respond to the body's signals, but they still release exosomes, growth factors, and cytokines that provide therapeutic benefits on their own.
Another one is the product viability risk. So you could be getting cells that you think are doing something, but they're dead because one, the lab may not know how to process it. They may not be using the best techniques and they could be improperly stored or improperly shipped, and that can result in dead cells. And of course, that greatly decreases efficacy. We're counting on the cells being alive and responding to the environment and sending the right signals. But I have to admit, even dead cells can have a lot of benefits. And this is how powerful the stem cells are. The signals within these products, even if they're dead, just like exosomes, exosomes are not alive, right? These are inanimate particles from the cells, so they're not alive in a sense, but they can still produce a lot of benefits. So same as these products that contain dead cells, but they probably still have a lot of exosomes and growth factors and cytokines, etc. So they can still be helpful.
