Interest in virology has
increased significantly due to recent circumstances. While this interest is
specifically focused on COVID-19, readers should also revisit a recent review
of evolutionary medicine of retroviruses in humans by Katsura and Asai (2019). Approximately,
5-8% of the human genome is comprised on endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) from
viral sequences (resembling infectious retroviruses). Katsura and Asai emphasize
the importance of understanding these retroviruses in preventing or reducing
the effects of disease. For instance, abnormal expression of HERVs could be
linked to multiple sclerosis. They also highlight that retroviral sequences can
serve as transcription factors and specify sites for alternative splicing of
transcripts. Katsura and Asai conclude that further studies of HERVs and modern
infectious retroviruses must be conducted before we can develop finer-scale interpretations
of their roles and use of them clinically.
Joshua Porter – 04/14/2020 Potluck
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