How cells are foiled by a herpesvirus family member in the virus-host arms race

Not every virus wants to go viral right away -- some want to wait for the perfect opportunity to attack. So the virus has to find a way to enter the cells of the human body without tripping the alarm. It's how viruses in the herpesvirus family, like human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), do their business. In a new study, researchers show that individual cells in the human body have an armament designed to prevent HCMV from achieving and maintaining this latency.