The earliest observation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) interactions with the host cell was owl eye cytopathology in various tissues. It was recognized in the early 1970s that human CMV caused in utero infections resulting in congenital brain damage and other sensory neurological complications. Events of the 1980s and early 1990s, such as the wide application of solid organ and bone marrow transplantation and the emergence of AIDS, put the spotlight on human CMV. We understood that the virus was an opportunistic agent associated with immunosuppression. The golden age of cytomegalovirus research was...