Gene transfer and antisense nucleic acid techniques

Attempts to suppress a harmful genetic trait by antisense means, or to restore a normal phenotype by gene transfer, attract much publicity. This is especially the case where clinical trials incorporating such methodologies have been initiated, such as antisense oligonucleotide therapies for some types of leukaemia, antisense gene-transfer therapy for a form of lung cancer, and gene-transfer therapies for adenosine deaminase deficiency, severe combined immunodeficiency disease, and various forms of cancer including brain tumours and melanoma. However, translation of laboratory success into treatment or control of disease is unlikely to be straightforward. Here, Nick Miller and Richard Vile summarize the rationale, problems and potential of such techniques as applied to parasitic disease.