News Release

Milestone tumor virus publication by Elsevier journal Virology

Small DNA tumor viruses and their large contributions to biomedical sciences

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Elsevier

Amsterdam, 9 April 2009 – A recent special edition of the Elsevier journal Virology (www.elsevier.com/locate/viro), reviews the past, present, and future of the exciting field of small DNA tumor viruses. Many of the leaders in the field, including Dr Harald Zur Hausen, who was honored with the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery of the role of human papillomaviruses in cervical cancer, contributed to this comprehensive state-of-the-art publication.

In the field of viral oncology, particularly the studies of the small DNA tumor viruses (the polyomaviruses, the adenoviruses and the papillomaviruses) have led to fundamental discoveries that have advanced our understanding of basic biology. They have helped unravel some of the most complex aspects of the host cells they infect, from signal transduction cascades, to DNA replication, to transcription.

In his editorial, the Editor of the Special Issue Paul Lambert, from the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, states: "This is a story of three families of viruses, and three families of scientists who studied them, all interwoven together in time and place. Each virus revealing threads of knowledge that only when woven together provided the scientific world incredible insights"

"I am delighted and proud to see that so many of the leaders of the field contributed to this issue", said Editor-in-Chief of Virology, Bob Lamb, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA, "It is a highly valuable and very timely publication and I am convinced that it will be well-read across the world".

###

Notes to editors:

The Special Issue of Virology, Volume 284, Issue 2; Small Viruses, Big Discoveries: The Interwoven Story of the Small DNA Tumor Viruses (Guest editor: Paul.F. Lambert) will be freely accessible online. Please go to: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/issue/7165-2009-996159997-898060

About Virology

Launched in 1954, Virology (www.elsevier.com/locate/yviro) publishes the results of basic research in all branches of virology, including the viruses of vertebrates and invertebrates, plants, bacteria, and yeasts/fungi. The journal features articles on the nature of viruses, on the molecular biology of virus multiplication, on molecular pathogenesis, and on molecular aspects of the control and prevention of viral infections. The approaches and techniques used are expected to encompass those of many disciplines, including molecular genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, cell biology, immunology, and morphology. The journal is a leading resource for current information in the field of virology.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/), bibliographic databases, and online reference works.

Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.