[Possibilities of gene-technological production of drugs, especially also the interferons]

For a long time proteins have been used in Medicine as medication. Human Growth Hormone (isolated from Pituitaries of Cadavers) or insuline (isolated from porcine or bovine pancreas) are examples. Genetic engineering has essentially simplified the production of such well known proteins and on the other hand enabled search for and characterization of new human proteins. New active principles may thus be discovered, their physiological importance studied and if possible used for therapeutic purposes. Examples are thrombolytic proteins or interferon. Today more than 20 new proteins are already registered and more than 150 proteins are intensively tested in clinics.