2nd International Symposium on Molecular Diagnostics and Skin Gene Therapy

The 2nd International Symposium on Molecular Diagnostics and Skin Gene Therapy was held on a beautiful spring weekend at one of the youngest universities in the world, the Heinrich-Heine University, founded 1965. The conference attracted more than 340 participants from 24 different countries, including ethicists, basic researchers, virologists, immunologists, molecular biologists and clinicians, as well as numerous students. The event was organised under the auspices of the European Gene Therapy Society by U Hengge of the Department of Dermatology at Heinrich-Heine University. As Dr J Glorioso, President of the American Society for Gene Therapy, pointed out in his welcome address, the skin is a new target for gene therapy, with the potential for in vivo gene transfer to the central nervous system or to the lymphoid organs, for example. As such, Düsseldorf was a perfect location for such a meeting, because the most important biomedical research investments in Germany have been in neurology and dermatology. Many scientific challenges facing this young field of medicine were presented, but there was also much discussion of ethical, regulatory and safety issues with respect to gene therapy.