The 'secret weapon' of retroviruses that cause cancer
Monday, February 15, 2010 - 14:07
in Biology & Nature
Oncogenic retroviruses are a particular family of viruses that can cause some types of cancer. Scientists have now identified a "virulence factor" that inhibits the host immune response and allows the virus to spread throughout the body. This factor is a sequence of amino acids that is located in the envelope protein of the virus.