Virus makes people smarter?

Virus genes mixed into human DNA may have helped our brain cells evolve, according to a new study.

Scientists have long discovered that DNA from retroviruses accounts for about 5% of the human genome component. However, over the years, they still consider them junk DNA, a by-product of evolution and have no real effect.

However, a new study by Lund University (Sweden) reveals that, during evolution, retroviruses increasingly control how cells in the human body work and they may have caused the Our brain cells are particularly active, more active. That ultimately makes people smarter.

Swedish experts claim that genetic viruses, millions of years old, play an important role in building complex complex networks in the human brain.

The endogenous retrovirus shares three common genes, called "gag", "env" and "pol" . In it, gag creates so-called "inner shells " , which store viral genes; env helps the virus adhere to and penetrates into cells and pol produces an enzyme responsible for bringing the viral genes inside human DNA.

The HIV virus causes an AIDS-like disease to be classified as a class of retroviruses.

Until now, scientists have discovered more than 100,000 pieces of retrovirus DNA in the human genome. They said that our ancestors were infected with retrovirus and occasionally these viruses infested the embryo. Therefore, retrovirus DNA has been crammed into embryonic cells and passed down through generations.

Over time, the virus cannot create new viruses and infect hosts, and mutations also prevent the gag gene from functioning normally. However, the dying virus can still copy its genes and become an ancestral virus.

In the new study, expert Johan Jakobsson and colleagues found that retroviruses seem to play a key role in the basic function of the brain, particularly through which genes are expressed and when. They noted that viruses in the brain and especially in tumors cannot form in nerve cells in the same way they can in other tissues.

In other words, tumors never start in nerve cells. That implies, they play a different role and different reactions in the brain. Neurons seem to have used a special mechanism to control the activation of retroviruses.

Researcher Jakobsson said the discovery provides us with an additional understanding of the ultimate inner workings of the minimum functions of nerve cells. In addition, the results open up the potential for new research pathways for encephalopathy, which are linked to genetic factors.

"I believe that the findings could lead to interesting new research on brain diseases. Currently, when looking for genetic factors related to many diseases, we often consider only familiar genes. , which accounts for nearly 2% of the human genome, we have now opened up the possibility of considering a larger part of genetic material, which was once considered insignificant, " said Jakobsson.