Chiral four-dimensional string compactifications with intersecting Dbranes

We review the construction of chiral four-dimensional compactifications of type IIA string theory with intersecting D6-branes. Such models lead to four-dimensional theories with non-Abelian gauge interactions and charged chiral fermions. We discuss the application of these techniques to the building of models with spectrum as close as possible to the standard model, and review their main phenomenological properties. We also emphasize the advantages/disadvantages of carrying out this idea using supersymmetric or non-supersymmetric models.