Viral mechanisms of immune evasion

During the millions of years they have coexisted with their hosts, viruses have learned how to manipulate host immune control mechanisms. Viral gene f unctions provide an overview of many relevant principles in cell biology an d immunology. Our knowledge of viral gene functions must be integrated into virus-host interaction networks to understand viral pathogenesis, and coul d lead to new anti-viral strategies and the ability to exploit viral functi ons as tools in medicine.