The murine leukemia virus (MuLV) is one of the simplest retroviruses. The virus uses the mouse as a host and is able to cause cancer in the host. The retrovirus MuLV has a positive, single-stranded sense RNA that replicates via reverse transcription. The virus has been of interest since its discovery the beginning of 1950’s. The virus was considered significant since it was shown to induce leukemia in inoculate mice. While it hasn’t been shown to be effective at infecting humans, it has still proven to be relevant in the study of viral infection in humans through the observation of its behavior in mice models. As a retrovirus, it has also been targeted for possible use as a viral vector (MicrobeWiki - Murine Leukemia Virus).
