Slashdot Mirror
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."
William Burroughs figured this out decades ago.
This poster is likely a specimen having a recently-infected brain that may be ideal for studying this phenomenon in its early stages.
Table-ized A.I.
Agent Smith: "I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops an equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet; you are a plague and we are the cure."
A few years ago New Scientist had an interesting article that made me look at viruses in a different light.
It basically said that viruses allow different species to exchange genetic material beyond what would be possible with
sex alone. They had some example like the development of the placenta :
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2012/02/14/mammals-made-by-viruses/
The article lies. It says, "[t]he reason the viruses are activated specifically in the brain is probably due to the fact that tumours cannot form in nerve cells, unlike in other tissues."
Leaving aside the awkward phrasing ("form _in_ nerve cells" [emphasis added]), it turns out that 1% of brain tumors are neuronal tumors. "Tumors of the central nervous system that contain abnormal neuronal elements, termed neuronal tumors, make up approximately 1% of all brain tumors." (http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/pdf/10.1148/radiographics.22.5.g02se051177)
That said, I think I understand the gist of the argument. But I didn't know that neuronal tumors were so rare (or supposedly impossible, according to TFA) and felt compelled to fact check that assertion.
I think it may refer to the fact that neural derived tumors typically form from the neural support cells (glial cells, astrocytes) rather than the axons and dentrite of a 'nerve cell'. Lousy phrasing and really a stretch as far as significance.
Which segues into nicely hyperbolic title in TFA. What the research shows is that retroviral-derived sequences have some interesting control factors that are different from other cells. To intimate that this has anything to do with intelligence or even brain function is rather a stretch. It's a shame because the findings (a novel control pathway in the brain) is interesting all by itself.
Sigh.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Good luck with that. The raw milk they drink gives them super strength and their excellent homepathy will repair any damage.
From the article: "tumours cannot form in nerve cells". This, of course, is BS that was discredited a couple of years ago: http://m.medicalxpress.com/new... Perhaps we should have a Slashdot discussion on lazy scientists failing to keep up with developments in their own field. If you write without bothering to read, you end up with... well, something like Slashdot...
"Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
I think we should convert to a very successful time in Athens, where politicians were selected by lottery... Out with the political class and the people that can buy them.
Only a portion of the politicians were selected by lottery, and only racially privileged male landowners were eligible to serve or had a vote. Once elected, they could still be bought. Their society was based on slavery. Still want to convert back to Athenian government? Guess what? It was an oligarchic republic just like what we have now.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
You would think that homeopaths would heartily endorse vaccines, as they seem to be one of the few treatments that successfully use small dose solutions of material that causes similar symptoms to treat (prevent) the actual disease.