Leukemias induced by non transforming murine retroviruses have been a very useful system for the study of oncogenesis. These studies have identified the mechanisms by which retroviruses that lack a transforming gene can alter cellular gene expression and have lead to the discovery of the genes which contribute to the tumor phenotype. Lately these retroviruses have been used for the development of new approaches to study the multigene process of oncogenesis. The information generated by these systems can be very useful in understanding the development of human tumors linked to retroviruses, like lymphomas in AIDS patients. In this report we will focus on the lymphoid tumors induced by murine leukemia viruses and the role their biology plays in the discovery of genes implicated in oncogenesis and in the control of the cell cycle.

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