Earlier this month,
the Editors ofInfectious Agents and CancerandJournal of the
International AIDS Societyhad the honour of being able to congratulate
Editorial Board membersHarald zur HausenandFrançoise Barré-Sinoussi
on jointly receivingthe 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their respective
contributions in elucidating the roles played by viruses in causing severe
human disease.

Harald zur Hausen
challenged contemporary understanding of the aetiology of cervical cancer when
he postulated that Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) acted as the
oncogenic factor causing the disease. His research
into the area, pursued over more than a decade, eventually led to the
development of vaccines against the tumourigenic, high risk strains, HPV16 and
18. Aninterviewheld with Harald zur Hausen
immediately following the awards and further information can be accessed atNobelprize.org.

The discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus byFrançoiseBarré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier was a key
development underpinning the current knowledge of the disease and prospective
treatments.The researchers isolated
and cultured cells from the lymph nodes of infected patients, detected activity
of the retroviral enzyme reverse transcriptase and observed retroviral
particles budding from infected cells.Retrovirologyhas published anEditorialdiscussing the
award.

At BioMed Central, we are thrilled to join the journals’
Editors in congratulating Harald zur Hausen andFrançoiseBarré-Sinoussifor their
achievements.