During their infectious cycle, certain viruses can take up normal human genes. Some of the human genes regulate cell division. Inside the virus, the human genes become altered. When reintroduced into human cells, the virus-altered genes cause cancer. These cancer-causing genes are called oncogenes .
Geneticists believe that oncogene mutations account for a fifth of all human cancers.
We have described rearrangements that cause Burkitt lymphoma and chronic myelogenous leukemia. In fact, those rearrangements disrupt the normal function of particular oncogenes. So it is not the rearrangement per se that causes these diseases, but the effect of the rearrangement on the oncogenes. Copyright 2000, Genetics Now. See Copyright, Trademark, Disclaimer, Etc. Notice .