“Viruses don't just make us sick. They can actually sometimes end up in our genomes.” EndsSometimesSickVirusesGenome Author:Carl Zimmer
“About 1.2% of the human genome is made up of genes, things that encode for proteins, the stuff that we consider us. There is about 8.3% that's a virus. In other words we're probably about seven times more virus than we are human genes, which is kind of a weird way to thinking about yourself.” ThinkingWayHumansKindMadeStuffSevenAbout YourselfGenesVirusesProteinThinking About YouGenomeThinking About Yourself Author:Carl Zimmer
“If you're looking for your own idea of your own identity you know the human genome may not be the best place to look for it. You're just looking at a bunch of viruses.” IfsKnowsHumansLooksMayIdeasIdentityBunchBeing The BestVirusesBest PlaceGenome Author:Carl Zimmer
“One of the big challenges now is to figure out just how many viruses there really are in the human genome. So far the estimate is 8.3% of our genome is virus, but it actually could be a lot higher.” HumansBigsChallengesFiguresHigherVirusesBig ChallengesGenome Author:Carl Zimmer
“Over millions of years the viruses in our genome mutate more and more so the look less and less and less recognizable as viruses and so if there was a virus that infected our pre mammal ancestors like 250 million years ago, which it probably did, we can't see it because it just looks totally random.” IfsYearsLooksMillionsYears AgoAncestorVirusesMammalsGenome Author:Carl Zimmer
“It used to be thought that only a certain kind of virus could get into our genome and it's called a retrovirus and that's a virus that might be HIV for example.” KindMightUsedCertainExampleUsed To BeVirusesHivGenome Author:Carl Zimmer
“We have Borna virus genes. We're part Borna virus, which is weird, but apparently our cells and our genomes in a weird way might actually be grabbing these viruses, grabbing genetic material from the viruses that are infecting it and pulling them into their own genome.” WayMightMaterialsCellsGenesPullingVirusesGrabbingGenome Author:Carl Zimmer
