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HUGE NUMBER. "Mammalian genomes are chronically “infected” by a huge number of endogenous retroviral elements (ERVs) that spread vertically from one host generation to the next as integrated viral genomes or partial genomes in host chromosomes." https://lnkd.in/b9QHr8w View in LinkedIn

DEFECTIVE CODE. "According to a study published in 2005, no HERVs capable of replication had been identified; all appeared to be defective, containing major deletions or nonsense mutations. This is because most HERVs are merely traces of original viruses, having first integrated millions of years ago." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_retrovirus View in LinkedIn

VIRAL RECORD. "Human endogenous retroviruses (HERV) proviruses comprise a significant part of the human genome, with approximately 98,000 ERV elements and fragments making up 5-8%." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_retrovirus View in LinkedIn

VIRAL ELEMENTS. "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." https://lnkd.in/bs7fWas View in LinkedIn

LOOSE CODE is one way to describe jumping genes and all these mobile genetic elements which range from parasitic to symbiotic, from autonomous to dependent. This natural menagerie is every bit as bizarre as that found in artificial life zoos. Bring the children, enjoy the spectacle. View in LinkedIn

STRANGE as viruses and their offspring may seem, there is yet another universe of strange bits of viral genetic replication information floating around. These pieces of DNA code include: transposons, endogenous retroviral elements (ERVs), and other exotica in this marvelous freaky zoo. Some are autonomous and self-replicating strands of information. Some are not. View in LinkedIn

RNA SILENCING COMMONALITIES. "The critical common components of the paradigm are that (i) the inducer is the dsRNA, (ii) the target RNA is degraded in a homology-dependent fashion, and...(iii) the degradative machinery requires a set of proteins which are similar in structure and function across most organisms." https://lnkd.in/eity6gi View in LinkedIn

ANCIENT PROCESSES. "Specific gene silencing has been shown to be related to two ancient processes, cosuppression in plants and quelling in fungi, and has also been associated with regulatory processes such as transposon silencing, antiviral defense mechanisms, gene regulation, and chromosomal modification." https://lnkd.in/eity6gi View in LinkedIn

PRION PROTEIN FOLDING, or its 3D structure, conveys enough information to change a normal cellular protein into an infectious prion particle. As such, it is a protein gene, a rather controversial concept. https://lnkd.in/e3uKvuP View in LinkedIn

VIRAL SUPPRESSORS OF RNA SILENCING and the inevitable counter-defense. "VSRs efficiently inhibit host antiviral responses by interacting with the key components of cellular silencing machinery, often mimicking their normal cellular functions." https://lnkd.in/eaZgcEZ View in LinkedIn