Abstract:Werner Henle, the son of a surgeon and grandson of anatomist-histologist Jacob Henle, was born in Dortmund, Germany. He attended the University of Munich from 1929-1930 and transferred to the University of Heidelberg in 1930 where he finished the course work needed for medical degree in 1934. Gertrude Szpingier was born in Mannheim, Germany and received her medical degree from the University of Heidelberg in 1936. The Henles are the most well known, however, for their research on Epstein-Barr virus. Their discovery of the relationship between Epstein-Barr virus and cancer demonstrated that the presence of certain viruses in the nucleus of a cell could transform a healthy cell into a malignant one.