W. French Anderson, M.D.

The publication of this book comes in time for the small field of human gene therapy. After a decade of labored struggle and many long hours under the harsh lights of the federal audit process, gene therapy emerged as a legitimate scientific system. It is now time to move away from the question period as to whether gene therapy would be a useful part of military weaponry to begin teaching concepts and practices that make gene therapy a reality.

This book is a comprehensive set of chapters that describe the basic biology and potential applications of viruses as gene transfer detectors. It is no coincidence that the modified virus is the reagent used in the first human gene therapy trials.

Viruses have evolved with human species (and most likely with all forms of life) to be masters of gene transfer.