Viruses, Polymerases, and Cancer

Abstract

The view of retroviruses as 1 of a number of solutions to the problem of creating a virus was developed. Each virus directs synthesis of 2 critical classes of proteins: proteins for replication and proteins for constructing the virus particle. By encoding the reverse transcriptase, retroviruses have evolved the ability to integrate themselves into the cell chromosome as a provirus. This is a very sheltered environment in which to live. Only mutation interferes with the continual transmission of the virus to the progeny of an animal that is infected in its germ cells. The ability of some retroviruses to cause cancer is a gratuitous one, but today it is the most challenging and important attribute of these retroviruses and the one that will dominate future research efforts in this area.