Abstract: The present invention provides a novel gene delivery system in which a gene delivery facilitating peptide, generally derived from Histone H2A, is complexed with a nucleic acid for efficient and stable delivery of the nucleic acid into a cell, ultimately to the nucleus. Such peptide-mediated gene delivery is based on the principal that unneutralized positive charges on the histone are bound electrostatically both by the negatively charged phosphate backbone of DNA and that nuclear targeting signals in histones improve trafficking of the DNA to the nucleus for transcription.