): Over the last several years, remarkable progress has been made toward the technical development and clinical application of human gene therapy, and more than 150 human clinical trials have been initiated by academic physicians. Most of these gene therapy protocols have employed recombinant viruses to delivery the genes into patients' cells. More recently there has emerged a growing emphasis in the development of synthetic non-viral gene delivery systems to be used instead of recombinant viruses for gene therapy. This conference aims to focus scientific attention on the problem of producing and controlling the synthesis of homogeneous supramolecular assemblies consisting of DNA and other synthetic components, for the purpose of producing more effective synthetic delivery systems. The conference will cover aspects of the chemistry and physical chemistry of self-assembling supramolecular systems containing DNA. The topics of cationic liposome, polylysine and dendrimer complexes for DNA delivery will be covered. Mechanistic aspects of in vitro and in vivo DNA delivery with systems of this kind will also be discussed. Progress with in vivo animal models using synthetic gene delivery systems will be covered, and the results of human clinical trials will be presented.
