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Our knowledge of the structure of mammalian interferons has been limited in the past, predominantly because only minute quantities were available for structureal studies. Advances in amino acid analysis and sequence determination of picomolar quantities of protein have permitted the acquisition of composition and partial sequence data for several native human and mouse interferons. However, the majority of information on the structure of interferon has been the direct result of recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology. Not only has this application of genetic engineering provided amino acid sequence data for a number of human interferons, but has also allowed the isolation of sufficient quantities of human interferon for other structural studies, e.g., disulfide bond analysis and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Studies aimed at determining the composition and structure of the carbohydrate moiety of interferon are, of course, dependent upon the availability of naturally derived material, and thus have been more limited.