In summary, we have found that the X/B-containing CPPÀPMO conjugates are superior to oligo-arginineÀPMO conjugates for the following reasons: they display higher activity in cell nuclei, are less affected by serum and are more stable in blood (5) . The toxicity of the X/B-containing CPPs can be reduced by keeping the number of X residues below 5 while still maintaining a reasonable delivery efficacy and stability. This study provides a basis for further optimization of CPP sequence using R, r, X and B residues in the interest of further reducing toxicity and increasing antisense activity, which will likely lead to more effective AO transporters for potential therapeutic applications. Lost in the World of Functional Genomics, Systems Biology, and Translational Research: Is There Life after the Milstein Award? We've always wanted to save the world from the scourges of virus infection by developing better drugs and vaccines. But fully understanding the intricacies of virus-host interactions, the first step in achieving this goal, requires the ability to view the process on a grand scale. The advent of high-throughput technologies, such as DNA microarrays and mass spectrometry, provided the first opportunities to obtain such a view. Here we describe our efforts to use these tools to focus on the changes in cellular gene expression and protein abundance that occur in response to virus infection. By examining these changes in a comprehensive manner, we have been able to discover exciting new insights into innate immunity, interferon and cytokine signaling, and the strategies used by viruses to overcome these cellular defenses. Functional genomics may yet save the world from killer viruses. At the time I received the Milstein Award in September 1999, my laboratory was embarking on an exciting new venture. I had become fascinated by the novel opportunities that were becoming available through the sequencing of the human genome and the advent of highthroughput technologies such as DNA microarrays and mass spectrometry [1] . Because these technologies provided a way to obtain a nearly comprehensive view of a biological system, I was convinced they offered the best chance to learn everything there is to know about the complex interplay between viruses and the cells they infect. Over the past eight years, my laboratory has worked tirelessly, and even obsessively, to incorporate genomic, proteomic, and information technologies into our research. Although we certainly don't yet know everything there is to know about virus-host interactions, we've made tremendous progress, and I remain convinced that genomic and proteomic approaches will be a fundamental force for pushing the field of virology forward in the years to come. In this article, we provide a sampling of how we're using these technologies, the discoveries we've made, and how the technologies themselves have continued to evolve.