The discovery and de-discovery of the xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) has been a tumultuous roller-coaster ride for scientists and patients. The initial associations of XMRV with chronic fatigue syndrome and prostate cancer, while providing much hope and optimism, have now been discredited and/or retracted following overwhelming evidence that (1) numerous patient cohorts from around the world are XMRV-negative, (2) the initial reports of XMRV-positive patients were due to contamination with mouse DNA, XMRV plasmid DNA, or virus from the 22Rv1 cell line and (3) XMRV is a laboratory-derived virus generated in the mid 1990s through recombination during passage of a prostate tumor xenograft in immuno-compromised mice. While these developments are disappointing to scientists and patients, they provide a valuable road map of potential pitfalls to the would-be microbe hunters.

对科学家和患者来说，异嗜性鼠白血病病毒相关病毒 (XMRV) 的发现和去发现一直是一场动荡的过山车。XMRV 与慢性疲劳综合征和前列腺癌的最初关联，虽然提供了很大的希望和乐观，但现在已被否定和/或撤回，因为 (1) 来自世界各地的许多患者队列为 XMRV 阴性，(2) XMRV 阳性患者的初步报告是由于小鼠 DNA、XMRV 质粒 DNA 或 22R v1病毒的污染细胞系和 (3) XMRV 是一种实验室衍生病毒，于 1990 年代中期通过在免疫功能低下的小鼠中前列腺肿瘤异种移植物的传代过程中进行重组而产生。虽然这些进展令科学家和患者感到失望，但它们为潜在的微生物猎人提供了潜在陷阱的宝贵路线图。