Gene therapy for inflammatory diseases is a new , burgeoning field of medicine. Edited by the undisputed pioneers of this area of research, this volume is the first devoted to its topic. It contains thirteen chapters, each written by leaders in their respective fields, that summarize the state of the art in developing novel, gene based treatments for inflammatory diseases. As well as providing an introduction to the basic concepts of gene therapy and the use of naked DNA approaches, the book describes the advances that have been made in applying them to arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Sjogren`s syndrome and transplantation.One chapter is devoted to discussing the first human clinical trials that apply gene therapy to the treatment of an inflammatory disease. As well as providing novel therapeutic approaches, gene therapy facilitates the development of new and improved animal models of disease; a chapter describing these advances is also included. As an up-to-date, timely book written by th