Background　The mortality of acute lung injury（ALI） and acute respiratory distress syndrome （ARDS） has been reduced by the introduction of lung-protective ventilation， but it remains high due to delayed repair of injured lung tissue.　Objective　Researches are carried out to examine the effectiveness of stem cell therapy on ALI or ARDS.　Content　This review elaborated the research progress of mesenchymal stem cell（MSC）， embryonic stem cells（ESC）， induced pluripotent stem cells， endothelial progenitor cells and endogenous lung stem cells in the treatment of ALI and ARDS.　Trend　MSCs are considered to be most promising stem cells for clinical translation due to its rich source， easy isolation and proliferation， and abundant of experimental evidences. 【Key words】