Recombinant proteins for therapy.

Recombinant therapeutic proteins have become increasingly important over the past ten years. Numerous products derived from 20 different proteins are already on the market. In this review Peter Buckel discusses the issues surrounding the use of recombinant proteins as therapeutic agents. The first generation proteins for therapy all occur naturally in humans. Protein engineering has brought forth a second generation of products with application-specific properties obtained by fusion, mutation or deletion. The third generation of therapeutic proteins is produced by patients themselves after transfer of the relevant genes. The first successful applications of this gene therapy represent a new milestone in medicine.