Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are endogenous viral elements in the genome that closely resemble and can be derived from retroviruses. They are abundant in the genomes of jawed vertebrates, and they comprise up to 5–8% of the human genome (lower estimates of ~1%). ERVs are a subclass of a type of gene called a transposon, which can be packaged and moved within the genome to serve a vital role in gene expression and in regulation. Researchers have suggested that retroviruses evolved from a type of transposable gene called a retrotransposon, which includes ERVs; these genes can mutate and instead of moving to another location in the genome they can become exogenous or pathogenic. This means that not all ERVs may have originated as an insertion by a retrovirus but that some may have been the source for the genetic information in the retroviruses they resemble.
Formation
The replication cycle of a retrovirus entails the insertion ("integration") of a DNA copy of the viral genome into the nuclear genome of the hostcell. Most retroviruses infect somatic cells, but occasional infection of germline cells (cells that produce eggs and sperm) can also occur. Rarely, retroviral integration may occur in a germline cell that goes on to develop into a viable organism. This organism will carry the inserted retroviral genome as an integral part of its own genome—an "endogenous" retrovirus (ERV) that may be inherited by its offspring as a novel allele. Many ERVs have persisted in the genome of their hosts for millions of years. However, most of these have acquired inactivating mutations during host DNA replication and are no longer capable of producing virus. ERVs can also be partially excised from the genome by a process known as recombinational deletion, in which recombination between the identical sequences that flank newly integrated retroviruses results in deletion of the internal, protein-coding regions of the viral genome.
The findings have been published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. The human genome contains remnants of ancient retroviruses, called human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), which make up about 8% of our DNA...Duarte, Douglas F. Nixon, and Timothy R ... ....
“There’s been a lot of work showing these endogenous retroviruses can be domesticated for our benefit, but not a lot showing how they might hurt us,” Chuong stated, acknowledging the uniqueness of his team’s findings.
The viral DNA is that of ancient endogenous retroviruses that infected humans’ primate ancestors tens of millions of years ago, and was long considered to be dormant.
These ancient DNA segments, called endogenous retroviruses, were once thought to be harmless and inactive, merely ‘junk’ DNA ... Interestingly, the endogenous retrovirus examined in their ...
These ancient hitchhikers, known as endogenous retroviruses, were long considered inert or 'junk' DNA, defanged of any ability to do damage ... The study also suggests that silencing certain endogenous retroviruses can make cancer treatments work better.
Intro by Steve Cook... Which is the situation we are now in ... Put simply ... Presently we do not have one ... SOURCE ... In 1995, the MMR and yellow fever vaccines were found to be contaminated with the Endogenous Avian Retrovirus and the Avian Leukosis Virus ... Note ... 1.
Just like chickens, the human genome is filled with examples of endogenous retroviruses from historic infections; up to 8 percent of the human genome is made from sequences of viral origin.
It further highlights the inactive pipeline products in this space ...Takeda ... UCB S.A ... Temelimab is a monoclonal antibody designed to neutralize a pathogenic viral envelope protein, encoded by a member of the Human Endogenous Retrovirus-W family, pHERV-W.
These sequences, known as human endogenous retroviruses (or Hervs), date back hundreds of thousands to millions of years – with some even predating the emergence of Homo sapiens... ancient retroviruses.
The ancient viruses, called Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs), have been previously known but were seen as 'junk DNA' with no purpose - but could now lead to new treatments for those suffering with such conditions ... .
(MENAFN - The Conversation) Around 8% of human DNA is made up of genetic sequences acquired from ancient viruses . These sequences, known as human endogenous retroviruses (or Hervs), date back ... .
