Boosted by the inventions of new biological methods, such as DNA and RNA hybridization, basic virology has undergone a striking evolution during the last decade. The practical consequences of this rapid evolution can be exemplified in current HIV and AIDS research, and the results of this research have been included in the papers presented at this symposium, the first of a series of conferences entitled "Frontiers of Infectious Diseases". Three different fields of virology were outlined during the conference: antiviral chemotherapy, viral vaccines and viral pathogenesis to diseases other than classical infections.
