French DNA researchers resurrect an extinct virus.

cruzer

Senior member
Dec 30, 2001
482
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- link to full article -

Excerpt:

In a controversial study, researchers have resurrected a retrovirus that infected our ancestors millions of years ago and now sits frozen in the human genome. Published online by Genome Research this week, the study may shed new light on the history of these genomic intruders, as well as their role in tumors. Although this particular virus, dubbed Phoenix, is a wimpy one, some argue that resuscitating any ancient virus is inherently risky and that the study should have undergone stricter reviews.

Apparently bits of old virus RNA sits dormant in the human genome. These scientists collected the bits, homogenized them into a general genome sequence and created a virus incorporating all the bits.

The scientists insist steps were taken to weaken the ability of the virus,but if there's one thing we have learned from studying infectious diseases is that a virus can mutate(HIV anyone?).
 

Rainsford

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
17,515
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Worrying about this is kind of silly, in my opinion. The amount of medical data that can be obtained from studying viruses far outweighs the threat of them somehow escaping into the wild and wiping out humanity. Medical researches aren't some guy in his garage trying to build a bomb, they have pretty strict controls on these sorts of things and the chances of you catching a regular virus in the wild are far greater than getting anything from a disease being studied in a lab.
 

Gibsons

Lifer
Aug 14, 2001
12,530
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Originally posted by: cruzer
- link to full article -

Excerpt:

In a controversial study, researchers have resurrected a retrovirus that infected our ancestors millions of years ago and now sits frozen in the human genome. Published online by Genome Research this week, the study may shed new light on the history of these genomic intruders, as well as their role in tumors. Although this particular virus, dubbed Phoenix, is a wimpy one, some argue that resuscitating any ancient virus is inherently risky and that the study should have undergone stricter reviews.

Apparently bits of old virus RNA sits dormant in the human genome. These scientists collected the bits, homogenized them into a general genome sequence and created a virus incorporating all the bits.

The scientists insist steps were taken to weaken the ability of the virus,but if there's one thing we have learned from studying infectious diseases is that a virus can mutate(HIV anyone?).
This was a very important study. The virus they made has a few unusual properties that they can only speculate on at the moment. They don't know what its receptor is, for instance.

Endogenous retroviruses have been underappreciated imo. The role they play in evolution is tremendous, and this study further indicates their potential roles is some cancers.

I'm sure the authors have a greater appreciation of the mutation and evolution of viral genomes than you seem to think. They point out we should probably be more cautious in our approach to to handling of some human tissues, previously not thought to present any abnormal infectious potential.