Murine leukaemia virus. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Murine leukaemia viruses (MLV) (yellow particles) are gammaretroviruses that cause cancer in mice. There are no known gammaretroviruses that infect humans. Studying gammaretroviruses and how they cause cancer led to the discovery of oncogenes and the viral enzyme reverse transcriptase and a series of Nobel prizes. Specimen courtesy of Professor Greg Towers, University College London. Magnification: x6000 when printed 10cm wide