Peek inside the human genome and, among the 20,000 or so genes that serve as building blocks of life, you'll also find flecks of DNA left behind by viruses that infected primate ancestors tens of ...

Scientists from the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU Boulder), have published new research in Science Advances that shows that endogenous retroviruses (ERVs)—“junk DNA”—in the genome can play a ...

After viruses infected our evolutionary ancestors, bits of viral DNA lodged themselves into their genomes—and we still carry around genetic remnants of those viruses now. Known as endogenous ...

Retroviruses are viruses that multiply by incorporating their genes into the genome of a host cell. If the infected cell is a germ cell, the retrovirus can then be passed on to the next generation as ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. HERVs, or human endogenous retroviruses, make up around 8% of the human genome, left behind as a result of infections that ...

Researchers report February 15 in the journal Cell that ancient viruses may be to thank for myelin—and, by extension, our large, complex brains. The team found that a retrovirus-derived genetic ...

Multiple endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in human DNA may be programmed to activate as cancer therapy. A recent study, led by scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, expanded on a previously ...

Ancient viruses have really gotten on our nerves, but in the best of ways. One particular retrovirus — embedded in the DNA of jawed vertebrates — helps turn on production of a protein needed to ...

Edward Chuong and Atma Ivancevic at the BioFrontiers Institute. (Credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder) Peek inside the human genome and, among the 20,000 or so genes that serve as building blocks of life, ...