c he history of herpes simplex virus (HSV) is fascinating and arallels that of scientific progress, ultimately enabling scienists to use a human pathogen as a cancer remedy.The ancient reeks first identified the mucocutaneous lesions of HSV inection in the year 3000 BC. Hippocrates coined the phrase herpes’ from the Greek adjective ‘herpestes,’ meaning ‘creepng,’ when describing the herpetic blisters that seemed to rawl along the skin. More than a century has passed since scientists first oberved that viruses that cause human disease could also nhibit tumor growth. In 1893, remission of leukemia after atural viral infections was reported. Shortly thereafter, asteur observed tumor regression in a patient with cervical ancer after vaccination with an attenuated rabies virus. necdotes of tumor inhibition in cancer patients after outs of severe viral illnesses such as measles or mumps ave been reported. Sporadic attempts to treat cancer with iruses demonstrate encouraging results. But this notion f viral cancer killing was eventually abandoned from fear f uncontrolled viral infection and lack of effective antiiral agents. A period of viral classification, molecular characterizaion, and experimentation ensued. In the late 1970s, widepread recognition of genital herpes as a sexually transmited disease, with potentially severe consequences, was the ubject of intense media scrutiny. As public awareness grew, o did efforts to develop effective anti-viral agents. This esulted in the development of the first selective HSV inibitor, acyclovir, by Dr Gertrude Elion who received the obel Prize for her breakthrough. Acyclovir currently reains a primary agent for the treatment of various herpetic nfections. With better understanding of viral pathogenesis and the evelopment of effective anti-viral treatments, old notions f employing viruses to treat cancer were revisited. In the arly 1990s, scientists genetically engineered attenuated erpes viruses as potential cancer therapies. Mutations in he viral genome could further improve the safety of viral herapy and better target virus to tumors. During the past