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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."

3 of 320 comments (clear)

  1. Andromeda strain by zeroharmada · · Score: 3, Insightful

    need I say more

  2. Not very Intelligent design by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If human beings were designed, it seems to be a poor design to include copies of viruses in it. But we mere mortal humble human beings dont have the intellect to fathom the Divine Intentions. All we can say for sure is that, unless you pay the priest 10% of your income and get dunked in a pool you will rot in Hell.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  3. Re:HERVs: 8% of Human Genome by thefirelane · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The resultant virus was disabled so that, after replicating once in a cell, the daughter viruses could not replicate. So there was no risk.

    Life will find a way.... have you learnt nothing?