|
|
Article: The origin, and the sickening, of our species.(article discusses paper on viruses in human genes)
- Article from:
- Popular Science
- Article date:
- May 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Bonnier Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
iN THE BEGINNING, BEFORE THE first landlubbers crawled out of the murky ocean depths, viruses were everywhere. These parasites infected our earliest ancestors, and today, many millions of years later, bits of their genes live on in our genes.
For three decades, scientists have wondered whether the viral DNA within us is more than merely a vestige of our lowly origins. Could these infectious organisms have assisted in driving our evolution--by helping, say, to turn a foraging ape into a more cerebral toolmaker?
"We probably have more viruses in our genes than we have genes in our genes," says John Coffin, a molecular biologist at Tufts University School ...