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Viral Fossil Brought Back To Life

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the what-could-go-wrong dept.

hey hey hey writes "In a controversial study, researchers have resurrected a retrovirus that infected our ancestors millions of years ago and now sits frozen in the human genome. Published online by Genome Research this week, the study may shed new light on the history of these genomic intruders, as well as their role in tumors. Although this particular virus, dubbed Phoenix, is a wimpy one, some argue that resuscitating any ancient virus is inherently risky and that the study should have undergone stricter reviews."

7 of 320 comments (clear)

  1. because thats what we really need... by spagetti_code · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...a new (retro)virus.

    I mean - I was just saying the other day to a friend, I haven't
    seen a new virus in ages... just the same old ebola, HIV,
    flu, H5N1, herpes... I mean YAWN. Where's the excitement in
    those? /sarcasm

  2. Way ahead of you by megaditto · · Score: 3, Funny

    Creating black holes for kicks? That's what they are about to do in 2008 using the Large Hadron Collider.

    As a side note, tonight I am sleeping on the couch: got busted typoing a Google image search for 'Large Hadron Collider.'

    --
    Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
  3. not sure... by User+956 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wasn't this the plot of one of the Final Fantasy games?

    I'm not sure, but I'm sure Mohinder Suresh would be interested in this information.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  4. Relax... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What could possibly go wrong?!

  5. Re:HERVs: 8% of Human Genome by Rob+Carr · · Score: 3, Funny

    I learned to ignore mathematical nonsense in popular fiction books.

    --
    This sig seemed like a good idea at the time....
  6. Re:HERVs: 8% of Human Genome by 19thNervousBreakdown · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hell yes! I removed all that crap and compiled my DNA with -O4 -funfold-proteins -march=ubermensch and now I can flip a VW bus with one hand and paint fences with my mind! w00t!

    --
    <xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
  7. Human ROOT KIT! by ManyLostPackets · · Score: 2, Funny

    http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/RootkitRevea ler.html has a tool that can help flesh out all those registry and file system API discrepancies for further study.

    Of course it's always safe to run AdAware[ http://www.lavasoft.com/ ] and if you have the budget, purchase WebRoot[ http://www.webroot.com/ ] for a fast, centralized cleaning in the enterprize environment.