Jonathan Stoye is a virologist who is interested in the genetic interactions between retroviruses and their hosts that characterize an on-going relationship spanning more than one hundred million years. The well known HIV-1 and HTLV-1 therefore represent only the most recent in a series of viruses that have infected humans and our ancient ancestors going back to the time of the dinosaurs.  

Jonathan’s earlier work focused on the nature and consequences of germ-line retrovirus inheritance and provided a basis of assessing their role in molding the mammalian genome as well as evaluating risks to health associated with activation of these endogenous elements. More recently he has studied the natural mechanisms controlling retrovirus replication.  He cloned the first mammalian retrovirus restriction factor, Fv1, setting the scene for the identification and characterization of multiple host factors that provide intrinsic barriers to virus infection.