Parvovirus vectors for human gene therapy.

It has become increasingly clear that parvovirus-based vectors are a potentially safe and useful alternative to the more commonly used retroviral and adenoviral vectors. Parvovirus vectors have been successfully used in phase I clinical trials for gene therapy of cystic fibrosis and hemophilia B, and several salient features of these vectors provide further support to the suggestion that their use in potential gene therapy of a wide variety of human diseases is imminent and perhaps well justified.