Human gene therapy: ensuring progress in the next millennium

The year 2000 will mark the tenth anniversary of the first human gene therapy experiment. This first year of the new millennium is also the twenty-fifth anniversary of the National Academy of Sciences conference known as "Asilomar." In the early 1970s, the importance of recombinant DNA technologies to the development of a host of new therapeutics to treat many of humanity's most devastating diseases was widely recognized. At the same time, public anxiety increased about the possible generation of hazardous biological agents and unknown public health risks that might arise as a result of this new technology.