106-million-year-old virus discovered ‘fossilised’ within the human genome
The remnants of a virus that plagued our mammal ancestors through the age of the dinosaurs have been discovered lurking in our genomes
An artist’s impression of prehistoric animals from the early Cretaceous interval MARK P. WITTON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Round 106 million years in the past, the DNA of a virus someway bought built-in into the genome of one in every of our mammal ancestors. Two million years later, one thing related occurred once more with a intently associated virus. Now, the traditional remnants of these viruses have been discovered inside our cells.
“It’s type of hiding in plain sight within the human genome,” says Aris Katzourakis on the College of Oxford.
These two viral “fossils” are a number of the oldest ever found, and presumably …
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