van der Kuyl, Antoinette Cornelia, Cornelissen, Marion, Berkhout, Ben · Frontiers in microbiology · 2010 · DOI
This study examines XMRV, a virus that was found in some ME/CFS patients but whose existence remains hotly debated in the scientific community. The authors suggest that XMRV may have entered humans through contamination in medical products like vaccines that were made using mouse cells. They explore how this virus, which is very similar to viruses naturally found in mice, could have crossed into humans.
Understanding potential viral origins and transmission routes is critical for ME/CFS research, as the XMRV controversy significantly impacted patient hope and research funding decisions. If valid, identifying contamination sources in vaccine or therapeutic manufacturing could inform safety protocols and help resolve the contradictory findings across research groups.
This study does not prove that XMRV actually causes ME/CFS, nor does it demonstrate that XMRV contamination in vaccines occurred. It is a theoretical hypothesis paper without empirical evidence testing the proposed transmission routes. The study does not resolve why different research groups obtained conflicting results.
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
van der Kuyl, Antoinette Cornelia, Cornelissen, Marion, & Berkhout, Ben (2010). Of Mice and Men: On the Origin of XMRV.. Frontiers in microbiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2010.00147
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-van-der-kuyl-2010-mice-men,
author = {van der Kuyl, Antoinette Cornelia and Cornelissen, Marion and Berkhout, Ben},
title = {Of Mice and Men: On the Origin of XMRV.},
journal = {Frontiers in microbiology},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2010.00147},
note = {PubMed: 21687768},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-der-kuyl-2010-mice-men},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-der-kuyl-2010-mice-men
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