*Makes you wonder how human beings would behave if we were genetically 98 percent virus.
*Maybe it'll turn out that there's some ethnic group among us who is only one percent virus. Do we exterminate them, or make them our kings?
*Definitely the best anthropological science news since learning that Neanderthals wore makeup.
http://www.uta.edu/ucomm/mediarelations/press/2010/01/genome-biologist-reports.php
"ARLINGTON - A recent study on the 8 percent of human DNA that is derived from viruses may show a cause of cell mutation and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and mood disorders, according to an article by The University of Texas at Arlington biology professor Cédric Feschotte published in the Jan. 7, 2010, issue of Nature magazine.
"The study – led by Professor Keizo Tomonaga at Osaka University in Japan – revealed that the genomes of humans and other mammals contain DNA derived from the insertion of bornaviruses, RNA viruses whose replication takes place in the nucleus of cells. It was the first to show sequences derived from a virus other than retroviruses. Researchers have known since 2001 that 8 percent of human genetic material is derived from retroviruses.
"In his article, Feschotte speculates about the role of such viral insertions in causing mutations with evolutionary and medical consequences. (((Hint: "selfish gene" viruses actually use root-bot human hosts to distribute genetic spam.)))
The assimilation of viral sequences into the host genome is a process referred to as endogenization. This occurs when viral DNA integrates into a chromosome of reproductive cells and is subsequently passed from parent to offspring....
