Gene therapy relies on the delivery of therapeutic genes into patients’ cells. The microdevices used to reach the cells and to transfer the gene payload are called gene vectors. Viral packaging machinery is often utilized to generate the particles transporting the cargo genes. Lentiviruses, a subgroup of retroviruses, are highly suitable for remodeling into gene transfer vectors because they of...

The first clinical gene delivery, which involved insertion of a marker gene into lymphocytes from cancer patients, was published 25 years ago. In this review, we describe progress since then in gene therapy. Patients with some inherited single-gene defects can now be treated with their own bone marrow stem cells that have been engineered with a viral vector carrying the missing gene. Patients w...

The transfer of genetic material into endocrine cells and tissues, both in vitro and in vivo, has been identified as critical for the study of endocrine mechanisms and the future treatment of endocrine disorders. Classical methods of gene transfer, such as transfection, are inefficient and limited mainly to delivery into actively proliferating cells in vitro. The development of viral vector gen...