What is the difference between transient and stable transfection?

Stable and transient transfection differ in their long-term effects on a cell. In stable transfection, the plasmid DNA successfully integrates into the cellular genome and will be passed on to future generations of the cell. However, in transient transfection, the transfected material enters the cell but does not get integrated into the cellular genome. Thus, a transiently transfected cell will only express transfected DNA for a short amount of time and not pass it on to daughter cells.