SV40

Simian virus 40
Virus classification Edit this classification
(unranked): Virus
Realm: Monodnaviria
Kingdom: Shotokuvirae
Phylum: Cossaviricota
Class: Papovaviricetes
Order: Sepolyvirales
Family: Polyomaviridae
Genus: Betapolyomavirus
Species:
Macaca mulatta polyomavirus 1
Virus:
Simian virus 40
Synonyms

simian vacuolating virus 40, SV40

SV40 is an abbreviation for simian vacuolating virus 40 or simian virus 40, a polyomavirus that is found in both monkeys and humans. Like other polyomaviruses, SV40 is a DNA virus that sometimes causes tumors in animals, but most often persists as a latent infection. SV40 has been widely studied as a model eukaryotic virus, leading to many early discoveries in eukaryotic DNA replication[1] and transcription.[2]

Following contamination of polio vaccine batches in the 1950s and 1960s, SV40 came under suspicion as a possible cancer risk, but no subsequent increased cancer rate was observed, making such a risk unlikely. Nevertheless SV40 has become a cause célèbre for anti-vaccination activists, who have blamed it for multiple ills, including cancer and HIV/AIDS.[3]

  1. ^ Fanning, E; Zhao, K (February 2009). "SV40 DNA replication: From the A gene to a nanomachine". Virology. 384 (2): 352–359. doi:10.1016/j.virol.2008.11.038. PMC 2718763. PMID 19101707.
  2. ^ Banerji, J; Rusconi, S; Schaffner, W (December 1981). "Expression of a β-globin gene is enhanced by remote SV40 DNA sequences". Cell. 27 (2): 299–308. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(81)90413-X. PMID 6277502. S2CID 54234674.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference sbm was invoked but never defined (see the help page).