This year’s Nobel Prize for medicine, announced Monday, was awarded for the discovery of viruses in the 1980s which are responsible for fatal sexually transmitted illness in humans. Both of these viruses were discovered thanks to research into similar viruses in animals. As a result, HIV is now treatable, cervical cancer preventable. The long history of these life-saving advances is outlined in a recent report called Medical Advances and Animal Research.

Harald zur Hausen discovered that human papilloma virus (HPV) is the cause of more than 80% of cervical cancers. This discovery led to the development of vaccines for cervical cancer, one of which is now being rolled out in a UK national vaccination programme. Francoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were the first to isolate the human immunodeficiency virus–1 (HIV-1), which causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This discovery enabled diagnostics tests and screening tests for donated blood to be developed, as well as leading to the development of anti-retroviral treatments for HIV which slow the progress of the disease, greatly extending life-expectancy.

Papillomavirues were shown to be infectious agents that caused tumours in animals as far back as 1910, while lentiviruses, the class of retrovirus which includes HIV, were known to cause diseases affecting the immune system in horses, sheep and goats in the early 1900s.