Ancient Viruses Altered Human Brains

giulioprisco writes: A new study from Lund University in Sweden (abstract) indicates inherited viruses that are millions of years old play an important role in building up the complex networks that characterize the human brain. The Lund study shows that retroviruses seem to play a central role in the basic functions of the brain — over the course of evolution, the viruses took an increasingly firm hold on the steering wheel in our cellular machinery. In particular, the retroviruses seem to play an important role in the regulation of which genes are to be expressed, and when."

Comments

lost hair

[kcelery]

I would consider human brain development is due to some odd genetic mutation when
human had lost their hair. When climate changed, those who could figure out how to
survive the cold winter lives on.

For the hairless homo sapien to keep warm in cold climate is quite complicated as the
fur from other animal is not quite ready to cover the body part. The cold weather forms
some kind of selective breeding. To survive hairless, human were forced to use the brain.

Re:subject nobody reads

[lisaparratt]

Or was it just someone terminally stupid misinterpreting their ergot-derived delusions and cursing humanity with the result?