ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION
Molecular biology, a term with a multitude of meanings, brought together the classical basic sciences of physics and chemistry in an intellectual and empirical fusion that began with the description of the molecular structure of deoxyribo nucleic acid in 1953 (1). A mere 45 years later, the science of molecular biology is on the verge of mapping the entire human genome (2). As a result of these efforts, molecular genetics has developed into a power-house of diagnostic science which has related a large number of gene sequences to such relevant diseases as muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis (3). Diagnosis and prevention are powerful tools in health care, but disease therapy is the most dramatic. Molecular medicine is in its infancy but in the guise of “gene therapy” has grabbed the headlines and public interest not only for its revolution ary approach to disease therapy but also for the social, ethical, economic, and legal implications following in its wake.
