Editorial

Genetic therapy: on the brink of a new future

Gary R Hellermann^* and Shyam S Mohapatra

• * Corresponding author: Gary R Hellermann ghellerm@hsc.usf.edu

Author Affiliations

Joy McCann Culverhouse Airway Disease Research Center, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Div. of Allergy and Immunology, Tampa, Florida

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Genetic Vaccines and Therapy 2003, 1:1 doi:10.1186/1479-0556-1-1

Published: 4 September 2003

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

The field of genetic therapeutics, the focus of our new journal, Genetic Vaccines and Therapy, is poised to enter a potentially vast new arena of medical progress within this decade. Worldwide interest exists among biopharmaceutical companies, governments, the military and medical practitioners in the rapid development and deployment of novel DNA-based agents. The possibilities are virtually unlimited: new treatments for emerging and re-emerging diseases; effective and specific immunization against the viral scourges of HIV, smallpox and others; the genetic correction of hereditary defects, such as cystic fibrosis; more effective and specific antitumour therapies genetically tailored to the individual; and gene-specific preventive measures for degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, arthritis, and arteriosclerosis [1].