Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Milestones
  • Published:

Milestone 15

Bad seeds

Cellular homologues of viral oncogenes

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 6, pages S16–S17 (2006)Cite this article

An analysis of the thermostability of the DNA duplexes formed between the RSV v-src probe and avian cellular DNAs provided an indication of the extent of relatedness, and showed that cellular c-src DNA sequences diverged in accordance with the phylogenetic distances between the different species. Using less-stringent hybridization conditions, Deborah Spector, Varmus and Bishop detected more distantly related c-src sequences in human and mouse DNA, but not in sea urchin, fruit fly or Escherichia coli.

These were very unexpected findings that launched the whole field of oncogenes. Julian Downward

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Stehelin, D., Varmus, H. E., Bishop, J. M. & Vogt, P. K. DNA related to the transforming gene(s) of avian sarcoma viruses is present in normal avian DNA. Nature 260, 170–173 (1976)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Spector, D. H., Varmus, H. E. & Bishop, J. M. Nucleotide sequences related to the transforming gene of avian sarcoma virus are present in DNA of uninfected vertebrates. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75, 4102–4106 (1978)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Oppermann, H., Levinson, A. D., Varmus, H. E., Levintow, L. & Bishop, J. M. Uninfected vertebrate cells contain a protein that is closely related to the product of the avian sarcoma virus transforming gene (src). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76, 1804–1808 (1979)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Collett, M. S., Erikson, E., Purchio, A. F., Brugge, J. S. & Erikson, R. L. A normal cell protein similar in structure and function to the avian sarcoma virus transforming gene product. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76, 3159–3163 (1979)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

FURTHER READING

  1. Duesberg, P. H. & Vogt, P. K. Differences between the ribonucleic acids of transforming and nontransforming avian tumor viruses. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 67, 1673–1680 (1970)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Martin, G. S. Rous sarcoma virus: a function required for the maintenance of the transformed state. Nature 227, 1021–1023 (1970)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Stehelin, D., Guntaka, R. V., Varmus, H. E. & Bishop, J. M. Purification of DNA complementary to nucleotide sequences required for neoplastic transformation of fibroblasts by avian sarcoma viruses. J. Mol. Biol. 101, 349–365 (1976)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Brugge, J. S. & Erikson, R. L. Identification of a transformation-specific antigen induced by an avian sarcoma virus. Nature 269, 346–348 (1977)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chief Editor, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology,

    Arianne Heinrichs

Authors
  1. Arianne Heinrichs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Heinrichs, A. Bad seeds. Nat Rev Cancer 6 (Suppl 1), S16–S17 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1857

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1857

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing