Ancient Zombie Viruses May Be the Hidden Cause of Cancer

Viruses to multiply their own genetic codes They transfer it to other cells and continue their lineage by using the proliferation skills of these cells. Sometimes, even though our immune systems clear viruses, some of their DNA passes into our genetic codes and can be passed on to subsequent generations. It turns out that these pieces of foreign DNA hidden inside our genomes can be reactivated and cause a variety of problems.

bioinformatician from the University of Colorado Atma Ivancevic Led researchers discovered that cancers can use these zombie virus fragments to their advantage. Genome Biologist and lead author of the study Edward Chuong, “Our study shows that diseases today are significantly influenced by these ancient viral infections, which have attracted the attention of few researchers,” he said. he said.

The source of life in mammals may also be the source of cancer

Remnants of the virus called Endovenous Retrovirus (ERV) were considered “junk DNA” for a very long time. On the other hand, if these structures did not exist, there would be no umbilical cord, meaning mammals would not exist as we know them today.

On the other hand, it is just now emerging that ERVs also have negative aspects. Ivancevic and his team, 21 different types of cancer They analyzed published datasets on their epigenome and found that a family of ERVs long terminal repeat 10 (LTR10) They found that it was active at very high levels. The original virus infected our primate ancestors 30 million years ago.

Cancers appear to use this technique to alter gene expression patterns. parts of the virus uses. A single retrovirus family appears to be involved in up to 70 types of cancer. Researchers believe that more zombie genes may become active as we age.

Research Science AdvancesIt was published in .