![Blossom Damania, PhD, is co-director of the UNC Lineberger Global Oncology Program and the UNC Lineberger Virology Program.](https://unclineberger.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/867/2018/10/cancer-causing-virus-mimics-host-image2-600x400.jpeg)
June 24, 2016
Cancer-causing virus mimics host signal to drive cell growth, protein production
UNC Lineberger researcher Blossom Damania, PhD, postdoctoral researcher Aadra Bhatt, PhD, and colleagues have discovered a slick trick a virus uses to spur cancerous cell growth in its host: the virus initiates a signal that mimics one of the host cell’s own signals.