Following cancer viruses through the laboratory, clinic, and society

These essays in this special issue follow cancer viruses as a means of better understanding the history of biomedicine. Spanning the worlds of chronic and infectious disease research, the history of cancer viruses touches upon an enormous diversity of settings and scientific disciplines. Cancer viruses appeared during the twentieth century as vaccine targets, vaccine contaminants, laboratory anomalies, and tools for molecular biology. Rather than picking one discipline or setting to privilege above others, this issue suggests what can be learned, not only about cancer viruses but also about the character of modern biomedicine, from following these viruses through their different historical trajectories.