Small DNA tumor viruses: Large contributors to biomedical sciences

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 mammalian cell molecular biology processes such as transcription and DNA replication, uncovered pathways and genes often perturbed in human cancer, and identified bona fide human cancer viruses. In this article we examine the many contributions that have come from the small DNA tumor virus field and provide a recounting of some of the major landmark discoveries.