“Alien DNA”? The Viral Sequences That Became Part of the Human Genome Headlines call it alien. Scientists call it horizontal gene transfer. What the latest genomic research actually reveals is far more extraordinary and far more terrestrial than either framing suggests. Roughly 8% of your DNA was written by viruses. “Alien DNA” Headlines Oversimplify The Reality of Viral Gene Integration Every few months, a paper drops in genomics and the science communication machinery briefly overheats.

Not alien DNA. Ancient viral DNA.
Roughly 8% of the human genome comes from retroviruses that integrated into our ancestors millions of years ago.

#Genetics #Genomics #HumanGenome #EvolutionaryBiology #Retrovirus #Science

Pregnenolone promotes immune evasion through blocking endogenous #retrovirus expression.

Sexual abstinence promotes #tumor progression by inducing #pregnenolone production. Pregnenolone facilitates the formation of H3K9me3 to suppress #ERV replication
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #MicroSky

Cross-reactive HERV-W and EBV peptides elicit antibody responses in MS patients and synergistically exacerbate neuroinflammation in EAE Human endogenous retrovirus W (HERV-W) has been linked to multiple sclerosis (MS), yet its pathogenic role remains unclear. Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), …

"Cross-reactive #HERV-W and #EBV peptides elicit antibody responses in #MS patients and synergistically exacerbate #neuroinflammation in EAE"

#Retrovirus
#HERV-W
#EBV
#MultipleSclerosis

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Hervcov These are the goals of a project involving researchers from 5 different EU countries. This study has already produced evidence for the induction of a specific protein during COVID-19 disease. New info...

#hervcovproject
#herv #hervs
#longcovid
#postcovid
#retrovirus

Hervcov Project

📣📣 Calling EU-funded Research Projects:

Collaborate with HERVCOV EU project on Long COVID!

Human Endogenous Retroviruses as Novel Therapeutic Targets in Neurodegenerative Disorders Human Endogenous Retroviruses comprise approximately 8% of the human genome, serving as fragments of ancient retroviral infections. Although they are generally maintained in a silenced state by robust...

#HERVs
#Retrovirus

👀👀 #MS #ALS #Alzheimer
#Parkinson #neurodegeneration

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

AussiERV 2025 AussiERV: Australia’s first symposium dedicated to endogenous retroviruses. Join us for this one-day virtual event on November 7th!

Do you research endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) or want to learn more about them? 🧬🤔

Consider presenting at or attending AuusiERV - an inaugural online symposium for ERV research in Australia 🇦🇺 (and abroad) 🗺️

Abstracts due 1st October!

events.humanitix.com/aussierv-2025

#ERV #retrovirus

Circulating Cell‐Free DNA of Bovine Leukemia Virus: A Promising Biomarker for Enzootic Bovine Leukosis Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) causes Enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) in approximately 1%–5% of infected cattle after a long latent period. Few biomarkers effectively distinguish non-EBL from EBL cattle....

Quantitative analysis of BLV #cfDNA in cattle plasma achieves 100% sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing enzootic bovine leukosis - highlighting cfDNA as a highly effective #biomarker for veterinary #retrovirus #diagnostics🐄🧬🔍
📄 https://doi.org/10.1111/1348-0421.13231
👤 EVBC: Arif Ansori

#DouglasCoupland #LifeAfterGod #LiteratureAndScience #HIV #Retrovirus #SingaporeSling #MedicalHistory #NobelPrize #AntiretroviralTherapy #AIDS #BookTrivia #digitalart #py5

Flossie Wong-Staal: The Scientist Who Sequenced a Crisis and Reshaped Medicine Dr Flossie Wong-Staal, the molecular biologist who first cloned HIV, discusses her journey from Hong Kong refugee to AIDS crisis hero. She reveals the technical breakthroughs behind proving HIV cau…

Flossie Wong-Staal: The Scientist Who Sequenced a Crisis and Reshaped Medicine
voxmeditantis.com/2025/09/14/f...

#WomenInSTEM #STEM #Virology #Retrovirus #MolecularBiology

#Medsky🧪#IDSky #virosky #immunosky #publichealth
#RobertGallo’s identification of #HIV in 1984 revolutionised #virology by providing the first conclusive proof that a #retrovirus could cause #AIDS www.ihv.org/about/about-...

www.pbs.org/newshour/hea...

A retrovirus is a type of virus that uses RNA as its genetic material. After infecting a cell, it uses reverse transcriptase to convert its RNA into DNA, which then integrates into the host’s genome.

Welcome to Wednesday Words, where I will define one word used in biotechnology or biopharma each Wednesday morning!

If you want to learn more, check out: sbee.link/8vdcqrkw7y

#wednesdaywords #biotechnology #biopharma #Retrovirus #science

Scientists discover how leukemia virus stays hidden in the body – a key to future treatments A research team from Kumamoto University has made a groundbreaking discovery that reveals how the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) silently persists in the body, potentially laying the…

How #leukemia #virus stays hidden in the body ...

| #Tcell | #HTLV | #retrovirus | #inflammation | Via eurekalert .org

#HTLV-1 is a #retrovirus infecting 10-20 million people worldwide, mostly women and non-white populations, and hence remains #neglected. HAM is a neuroinflammatory disease lacking disease-modifying treatment, as current treatment is mostly symptomatic, or inspired by HIV or multiple sclerosis #MS

Could blocking ‘jumping genes’ help fight disease and aging? The first clinical trials are testing inhibitors of transposons, DNA sequences that hop around the genome on their own

Could blocking ‘jumping genes’ help fight disease and #aging? #retrovirus #retroelements #3TC #HIV #HTLV www.science.org/content/arti...

Dietary lipid overload creates a suppressive environment that impedes antiviral functions of NK cells.

Tregs suppress NK cells in HFD during acute retrovirus infection. IL-10 mediates the suppression of NK cell cytotoxicity in acute #retrovirus infection
www.cell.com/iscience/ful... #ImmunoSky

The left half shows the titel and date of the Workshop. It is branded in the colors of the Workshop: Darkblue background and orange accents. The right half shows a picture of Tübingen at night. You can see a row of historic houses along the river Neckar. Above all mounts the church with it bright red roof and its tower.

🚨 🌟 Registration is Open for #RetroPATH2025🌟 🚨

📅 6–9 October 2025 (Tuebingen, Germany)

Join this event organized by Michael Schindler and Daniel Sauter from @unituebingen.bsky.social, supported by orgalution.de

🔗Register here: evis.events/e/RetroPATH2...

#retrovirus #pathogenesis

Structural switching dynamically controls the doubly pseudoknotted Rous sarcoma virus–programmed ribosomal frameshifting element | PNAS A hallmark of retrovirus replication is the translation of two different polyproteins from one RNA through programmed –1 frameshifting. This is a m...

Excited to share my latest research. In this paper in PNAS, I use #cryoEM and #crystallography to solve multiple new structures of a viral RNA motif that controls frameshifting.

#virus #retrovirus #structuralbiology #science #biochemistry

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

SEQ koalas offer species survival hope with unique immunity: www.uq.edu.au/news/article...

#UQ #Queensland #Australia #Koalas #Endangered #Virology #Retrovirus #Genetics #Conservation #EndangeredSpecies

I am thrilled to share our story online at @cellpress.bsky.social . Big thanks to all authors: Zhiping, Bill, @lubanlab.bsky.social, Keith & bluesky-less!

authors.elsevier.com/c/1kjdaL7PXu...

How to tame a genome invader? It takes wild koalas 🐨🐨 to learn it.
#Retrovirus #koala #piRNA

More below 👇

#HERVs
#Retrovirus

Frontiers | Human endogenous retroviruses and exogenous viral infections

#MultipleSclerosis
#Retrovirus
#HERVs
#HERV-w

FYI @italoromeno.bsky.social 👀

Epstein-Barr Virus Load Correlates with Multiple Sclerosis-Associated Retrovirus Envelope Expression - PubMed pHERV-W ENV and syncytin-1, the envelope proteins of the human endogenous retrovirus W family (HERV-W), have been proposed as etiological factors for MS development. In addition, herpesviruses, such a...

"Epstein-Barr Virus Load Correlates with #MultipleSclerosis -Associated #Retrovirus Envelope Expression"

#HERV-W
#EBV

⬇️

A tale of a hidden family of genetic immigrants Though not usual for the editors of a scientific journal to ask that a story be told to its readers, this special issue is offering an opportunity to …

"A tale of a hidden family of genetic immigrants"

#retrovirus
#HERVs

Fascinating story

Activation of human endogenous retroviruses and its physiological consequences - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are relics of ancient retroviral infections, which provide coding and non-coding sequences to the human genome. Emerging evidence reveals how HERVs contribut...

"Activation of human endogenous retroviruses and its physiological consequences"

#HERVs
#retrovirus

Unveiling the Viral Legacy in our DNA A Journey from Ancient Infections to Modern Mental HealthThe notion that 8% of our genome is derived from ancient viruses sounds like a plot twist from a science fiction movie, but it is true. Hidden ...

#Endogenous #Retrovirus
#HERVs
#Depression
#Schizophrenia
#Bipolar disoorder

"Unveiling the Viral Legacy in our DNA

A Journey from Ancient Infections to Modern Mental Health"

Integrating human endogenous retroviruses into transcriptome-wide association studies highlights novel risk factors for major psychiatric conditions - PubMed Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are repetitive elements previously implicated in major psychiatric conditions, but their role in aetiology remains unclear. Here, we perform specialised transcrip...

#Human #Endogenous #Retrovirus #HERVs

"Integrating human endogenous retroviruses into transcriptome-wide association studies highlights novel risk factors for major #psychiatric conditions"

Cuando los virus del pasado influyen en la salud del presente: retrovirus endógenos Los retrovirus endógenos son secuencias virales integradas en el genoma humano desde hace millones de años. Aunque la mayoría están inactivas, algunos pueden reactivarse bajo ciertos estímulos e influ...

#MultipleSclerosis, T1D, Alz, cancer ...

Fascinant domaine, celui de la biologie des #retrovirus endogènes, celle de leur activation, de leur rôle positif/négatif dans de nombreuses maladies.

Excellent article :

"Quand les virus du passé influencent la santé actuelle : les rétrovirus endogènes"

2) Researchers used a #machine #learning model from
➡️ TruDiagnostic to analyze #epigenetic #data from 12,670 individuals with ages ranging from 12 to 100.

Using the resulting #DNA #methylation patterns of retroelements, specifically
human #endogenous #retrovirus (HERV) and long interspersed

Please join me and @AmitSharmaOSU in Palm Springs for this fun #retrovirus meeting with a fantastic line up of keynote speakers, including @PriyamvadaA_Lab @Rahm_Gummuluru @Xiongosome !

En lisant cet article, j'espère vraiment beaucoup 😻 que la recherche progresse pour qu'on puisse un jour prévenir des sales maladies comme la sclérose en plaques en explorant d'autres mécanismes génétiques.

#DarkGenome #HERVs #Retrovirus

region-aura.latribune.fr/strategie/sa...