Fol. Biol. 2004, 50, 107-119
The RCAS Vector System
Retroviruses have long been studied in animal models and cell culture. Initially, the primary reason to study retroviruses was that certain retroviruses efficiently induced tumours in animals and transformed cells in culture. Experiments with one of these rapidly oncogenic retroviruses, Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), led to the discovery of cellular oncogenes, a discovery that provides the foundation for our current understanding of cancer. The discovery of pathogenic human retroviruses, in particular the identification about 25 years ago of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 as the causative agent for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), invigorated the study of retroviruses and, to a significant extent, changed the direction of the field. Before HIV was discovered, retroviral research focused primarily on cellular oncogenes and viral oncogenesis; now much more effort is expended on studies of viral replication, the host's immune response, and the development of effective antiviral therapies. A more comprehensive overview is given in Chapter 1 of Coffin, Hughes and Varmus "Retroviruses" (1997).
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