[Molecular biology 1996: gastroenterology and hepatology]

Advances in molecular genetics have clearly improved our understanding of the pathogenesis as well as the diagnosis, therapy and prevention of gastrointestinal and liver diseases. The molecular diagnosis of a number of maglignant or potentially malignant gastrointestinal diseases as well as of several infectious liver diseases is on its way into clinical practice. Gene therapy and molecular preventive strategies, by comparison, have been less developed and need further refining before they will become integral part of the patient management.