Upon cell infection, some viruses integrate their genome into the host
chromosome, either as part of their life cycle (such as retroviruses), or incidentally.
While possibly promoting long-term persistence of the virus into the cell, viral
genome integration may also lead to drastic consequences for the host cell, including
gene disruption, insertional mutagenesis and cell death, as well as contributing to
species evolution. This review summarizes the current knowledge on viruses integrating
their genome into the host genome and the consequences for the host cell.