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This is one of those articles that confirm a gut feeling I have had for years. I was of the opinion that wild flu viruses where responsible for some of these di
by zafka 12y ago
This is one of those articles that confirm a gut feeling I have had for years. I was of the opinion that wild flu viruses where responsible for some of these diseases. It is interesting to see research close in on the mechanics. What is the best source for current research in this area, or even better... is there a hacker news type forum for DNA cowboys?
- abandonliberty 12y agoThe mechanism at play here is incredibly different from wild flu viruses. For one, they have to be a very rare type of virus called a retrovirus[0], like HIV, that becomes part of our genome [1]. These types of elements in our genes are very interesting. We are an organic computer. ERVs are some of the most successful viruses from a natural selection perspective. I'm sorry to tell you that the evidence presented here does not support your gut feeling. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrovirus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrovirus [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_retrovirus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_retrovirus
- zafka 12y agoDon't be sorry :) . I understand that they are talking about retroviruses, but they suspect that the trigger is more common viruses included the toxo virus that has been getting so many fun write ups. Obviously there is still a whole bunch more to determine, and some of these hypothesis will be disproved, but the general idea i fascinating.