Methods of transcriptionally modulating expression of viral genes and genes useful for production of proteins

A method of specifically transcriptionally modulating the expression of a gene encoding a viral protein, the expression of which gene is associated with a defined pathological effect within a multicellular organism, which comprises contacting a cell, which is capable of expressing the gene, with a concentration of a molecule effective to specifically transcriptionally modulate expression of the gene and thereby affect the level of the protein encoded by the gene which is expressed by the cell,

• wherein the molecule does not naturally occur in the cell, and specifically modulates transcription of the gene by:
• 1) binding directly to the nucleotide sequence regulating transcription, or
• 2) by binding directly to RNA produced by transcription from the gene of interest, or
• 3) by binding directly to a protein regulating transcription of said gene, with the proviso that the molecule binds the protein at a site distinct from the normal ligand binding site if the protein is a receptor
• with the proviso that the molecule is not a nucleic acid molecule complementary to a sequence within the gene.