replicate its DNA. Similarly, Rb proteins regulate many essential cell functions, including but not limited to a crucial cell cycle checkpoint, making them a target for viruses attempting to interrupt regular cell function. While several DNA oncoviruses have been discovered, three have been studied extensively. Adenoviruses can lead to tumors in rodent models but do not cause cancer in humans; however, they have been exploited as delivery vehicles in gene therapy for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and cancer. Simian virus 40 (SV40), a polyomavirus, can cause tumors in rodent models but is not oncogenic in humans. This phenomenon has been one of the major controversies of oncogenesis in the 20th century because an estimated 100 million people were inadvertently exposed to SV40 through polio vaccines. The human papillomavirus-16 (HPV-16) has been shown to lead to cervical cancer and other cancers, including head and neck cancer. These three viruses have parallel mechanisms of action, forming an archetype for DNA oncoviruses. All three of these DNA oncoviruses are able to integrate their DNA into the host cell, and use this to transcribe it and transform cells by bypassing the G1/S checkpoint of the cell cycle. Integration of viral DNA DNA oncoviruses transform infected cells by integrating their DNA into the host cell's genome. The DNA is believed to be inserted during transcription or replication, when the two annealed strands are separated. This event is relatively rare and generally unpredictable; there seems to be no deterministic predictor of the site of integration. After integration, the host's cell cycle loses regulation from Rb and p53, and the cell begins cloning to form a tumor. G1/S Checkpoint Rb and p53 regulate the transition between G1 and S phase, arresting the cell cycle before DNA replication until the appropriate checkpoint inputs, such as DNA damage repair, are completed. p53 regulates the p21 gene, which produces a protein which binds to the Cyclin D-Cdk4/6 complex. This prevents Rb phosphorylation and prevents the cell from entering S phase. In mammals, when Rb is active (unphosphorylated), it inhibits the E2F family of transcription factors, which regulate the Cyclin E-Cdk2 complex, which inhibits Rb, forming a positive feedback loop, keeping the cell in G1 until the input crosses a threshold. To drive the cell into S phase prematurely, the viruses must inactivate p53, which plays a central role in the G1/S checkpoint, as well as Rb, which, though downstream