Four years ago-in December 1997-the first European Science Foundation Workshop on Cardiovascular Specific Gene Expression was held in Maastricht. It was hardly possible to imagine the progress in the field in those four years. In 1997, gene expression was still an art focused on individual genes; in 200 I, many labs have access to micro-array facilities to determine the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously. In 1997, gene expression was an area of fundamental research in basis molecular biology laboratories; in 200 I, clinical cardiovascular research has incorporated gene expression...

Four years ago-in December 1997-the first European Science Foundation Workshop on Cardiovascular Specific Gene Expression was held in Maastricht. It was hardly possible to imagine the progress in the field in those four years. In 1997, gene expression was still an art focused on individual genes; in 200 I, many labs have access to micro-array facilities to determine the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously. In 1997, gene expression was an area of fundamental research in basis molecular biology laboratories; in 200 I, clinical cardiovascular research has incorporated gene expression...