Cingöz, Oya, Paprotka, Tobias, Delviks-Frankenberry, Krista A et al. · Journal of virology · 2012 · DOI
This study investigated XMRV, a virus that was once thought to be linked to ME/CFS. Researchers discovered that XMRV was not created naturally in mice but instead was accidentally made in a laboratory when two different mouse viruses combined during a cancer experiment. The study shows that XMRV could not have originated in nature because its two parent viruses are found in different geographic mouse populations and have never naturally occurred together in the wild.
This study is crucial for ME/CFS research because it definitively demonstrates that XMRV, which was proposed as a potential causative agent of ME/CFS, is not a naturally occurring virus but a laboratory artifact. This finding helped resolve major scientific controversy around XMRV and ME/CFS, allowing the field to redirect research efforts toward other potential etiological factors in ME/CFS pathogenesis.
This study does not prove that XMRV could not infect humans or cause disease; it only shows the virus's laboratory origin. It also does not establish whether related viruses or similar recombination events might occur naturally in other species, nor does it address what the actual cause of ME/CFS might be. The study's focus on mouse biology limits direct applicability to human ME/CFS pathology.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Cingöz, Oya, Paprotka, Tobias, Delviks-Frankenberry, Krista A, Wildt, Sheryl, Hu, Wei-Shau, Pathak, Vinay K, et al. (2012). Characterization, mapping, and distribution of the two XMRV parental proviruses.. Journal of virology. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.06022-11
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-cingz-2012-characterization-mapping,
author = {Cingöz, Oya and Paprotka, Tobias and Delviks-Frankenberry, Krista A and Wildt, Sheryl and Hu, Wei-Shau and Pathak, Vinay K and Coffin, John M},
title = {Characterization, mapping, and distribution of the two XMRV parental proviruses.},
journal = {Journal of virology},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1128/JVI.06022-11},
note = {PubMed: 22031947},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/cingz-2012-characterization-mapping},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/cingz-2012-characterization-mapping
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