The recent advent of RNA interference has strongly stimulated the growing interest toward lentiviral vectors. This, plus the occurrence of several adverse effects in a clinical trial in which oncoretroviral vectors were employed, refocused the need for efficient tools allowing a stable in vivo gene transfer. The lentivectors were first developed in 1996 to address the poor efficiency of murine retroviral vectors to transduce arrested cells. Taking advantage of the accumulated experience in retroviral vector design, a rapid evolution of the structural form of the lentivectors converted this gene transfer agent into a very simple and popular tool. This rapidly led to several commercially available solutions. In the present review, more than a simple comparison to oncoretroviral vectors, we aimed at emphasizing the specific points that distinguish lentiviral vectors and confirm them as good and safe candidates for the clinical delivery of therapeutic genes.
Keywords: biosafety; lentivirus; retrovirus; vector.