Hereditary Diseases and Blood Transfusion

380 years ago, in the year 1614, Ubbo Emmius transplanted the gene ofscience from Ostfriesland into the education genome ofthe city ofGroningen as devel oped by Regnerus Praedinius. He thereby founded the University ofGroningen. It is with great pleasure that the Faculty of Medicine as one of the founding faculties ofour University, welcomes you to this 19th International Symposium ofBloodTransfusion, whichwill coverthe themeofHereditaryDiseasesandtheir relation to Transfusion Medicine, where cell expansion, gene transfer and gene therapy are the read thread. Since the earlydays there has beena specificand sincere interest in inborn errors ofmetabolism and hereditarydisorders. This interest has resulted in a structured research, diagnostic and counselling facilities, and therapeuticapproaches where various disciplines within our faculty work closely together with groups from related faculties of the University of Groningen, as well as other national and international scientific institutions. The field of inborn errors, genetic abnormalities and mutations, and hereditary diseases covers a broad gamma of extremely interesting and exciting scientific aspects, whichrangefrom clearphysicalaberrationstomolecularanalysisofgenes and genomes, coding areas and amino acid sequences. It is intriguing to realise that the balance of life seemingly depends on the position or presence of one single molecule as a part ofthe total complex ofgenetic information in the cell.

I. Blood Coagulation. - The Molecular Biology of Haemophilia. - Molecular Biology of the Various Types of Von Willebrand Disease. - Molecular Basis of Thrombophilia. - Inhibitory Sequences Within the Clotting Factor VIII cDNA Block Transcriptional Elongation and Complicate Efforts Toward Gene Therapy for Haemophilia A. - II. Haemoglobin and Red Cells. - Globin Gene Regulation. - Molecular Pathology of the Thalassaemia Syndromes. - The Current Status of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Gene Therapy in the Management of TheHaemoglobinopathies. - The Molecular Biology of Blood Groups: Relevance to the Study of Erythroid Maturation and the Clinical Management of Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn. - Genetic Abnormalities in Blood Group Serology. - III. White Cells and Malignancies. - The Role of The Blood Bank in Human Gene Therapy Trials. - Translocation in Cancer: Mechanism of Oncogenic Conversion and Implications for Therapy. - Role of Topoisomerase II A and B Isozymes in Determining Drug Resistance In Vitro and In Vivo. - Impact of Cell Culture Technology on Transfusion Medicine. - Gene Therapy for Primary Immune Deficiencies. - IV. Gene Technology, Ethics and the Future. - Ethics and Genetic Manipulation. - Is There a Role for Transfusion Medicine in the Genetic Correction of Genetic Disorders and Other Diseases? . - Vectors for Gene Therapy: Strategies for Making Gene Therapy Work. - From Blood Stain to Pathogenesis Study of Human Hereditary Diseases. - The Potential Impact of Gene Therapy in Blood Transfusion.