th th This volume comprizes articles presented at the joint IX International and 6 Euro pean
Symposium on Purine and Pyrimidine Metabolism in Man held in Gmunden Austria June 1 through 7
1997. Since the first of this series of meetings was held in Israel in 1973 conventions were
organized every three years in different parts of the world including the USA Japan and
Europe. The different aspects of purine and pyrimidine metabolism bring together re searchers
working in molecular genetics biochemical pharmacology biochemistry devel opmental biology
immunology epidemiology and the clinics. Oriented research in the field has been seminal for
the development of potent anticancer and antiviral drugs. As the number of genes which are
cloned grows the understanding of metabolism is increas ingly enlarged and might provide
leads to further improve therapeutic concepts and to bet ter understand mechanisms responsible
for the development of resistance against these drugs. In certain diseases purine and
pyrimidine analogs represent not only the drugs of choice but in fact are the sole therapeutic
alternative at present. The field has also taken an early lead in attempting to correct inborn
errors of purine and pyrimidine metabolism by gene therapy. The organization of this meeting
involved a large number of people who dedicated their time in an effort to make this symposium
a success. We thank the Abstract Review Committee the International Advisory Board and in
particular the Symposium Secretariat for doing a wonderful job.
