PNA (peptide nucleic acid) is a DNA mimic with a pseudopeptide (polyamide)
backbone which can be used to target double stranded DNA with high sequence
specificity, PNA therefore has great potential in the development of biomo
lecular tools for manipulation of DNA as well as for the development of DNA
targeted gene therapeutic drugs. The status of this field is discussed in
terms of PNA binding modes and mechanism as well as applications.