http://www.openthefuture.com/2007/12/paleovirology.html
Link: Open the Future: Paleovirology.
"Word of the Week: Paleovirology: The study of "fossil" viruses living in our cells as endogenous retroviruses.
"Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), like the more typical retroviruses such as HIV, rewrite the DNA of the cells they infect; the endogenous retroviruses do so not just to the somatic (body) cells, but to the germline (reproductive) cells, becoming part of the DNA we pass down to the next generation. These aren't rare – more of our DNA comprises these old retroviruses than genes that actually code for proteins. New ERVs generally will quickly lose their potency as viruses, but can come to play critical roles in how our bodies operate...."
