Recent advances of dendrimers in delivery of genes and drugs

Dendrimers as a new kind of polymer have been studied for medical applications mainly in two aspects: drug delivery and gene delivery. The unique characteristics, such as uniformity, monodispersity and the ability to functionalize their terminal groups with various targeting agents distinguish them as versatile carriers. In the paper the recent advances of dendrimer in gene transfer vehicles and drug delivery are separately reviewed. These advances illustrate the direction of the future development of dendrimers.