In this issue of Blood, Vrzalikova et al present evidence that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection leads to the down-regulation of BLIMP1 in primary germinal center (GC) B cells. BLIMP1 is a transcription factor encoded by the PRDM1 gene. It stops cell cycling and leads to terminal differentiation of B cells to plasma cells. The authors suggest that EBV inhibition of BLIMP1 expression serves to inhibit terminal differentiation of EBV-infected cells.