Medical, ethical and legal aspects of somatic gene therapy

Somatic gene therapy is one of the most fascinating and important medical developments as well as a field bearing unknown risks in human medicine of the nineties. This article tries to give a short survey on the medical applications of this new technique on the one hand and reflects possible ethical and legal implications on the other hand. We conclude that only an international agreement on risk assessment and ethical principles will lead to a adequate approach to somatic gene therapy.