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........ published in NEWSLETTER # 68

GENE THERAPY
by Professor K.G. Xanthopoulos, Clinical Gene Therapy Branch, NHGRI, NIH, Bethesda/MD (U.S.A.)

The Advanced Study Institute on Gene Therapy provided a forum for the first time for interactions between internationally recognized experts in the field of gene therapy and advanced graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in gene therapy, molecular biology, and molecular and clinical medicine. Through a combination of in-depth lectures, round-table discussions, tutorials, and posters the principal molecular mechanisms of gene expression, epigenic elements, gene delivery systems, viral vectors, non-viral vectors, animal models of human diseases, inducible regulatory systems, gene therapy of cancer, gene therapy of AIDS, monogenic disorders and ongoing clinical trials were emphasized. Furthermore, panel discussions addressed the ethics of gene therapy and similarly the appropriateness of gene therapy protocols in a clinical setting. The ASI successfully implemented a very ative as well as interactive environment that provided ample opportunities for group discussions, person-to-person interactions and subtopic interest groups to discuss strategies, evaluate tactics and design experiments aiming to advance gene therapy. This is reflected in the resulting publication (NATO ASI SERIES H105). It was evident that both the participants and the faculty benefited from the ASI as judged by the feedback to the organizing committee concerning the quality of the Advanced Study Institute and the development of a number of collaborative projects between clinicians and basic researchers. Perhaps, most significantly, young researchers were allowed the opportunity to identify appropriate academic institutions from the participating faculty for further career advancements.
Reference books: 3-35, A144, A290, H105

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