Make Entry -- Become an Editor -- Most Popular: (10, 25, 50, 75, 100)

   Help

Endogenous Retrovirus

Endogenous retroviruses are a kind of retrovirus that are believed to have been acquired from ancient infections of the human germ cells, as well as the germ cells of mammals and other vertebrates. Because of this, their proviruses are passed down or inherited by the next generation and because of this it now resides in the genome. Retroviruses are viruses that can actually copy their RNA into DNA and then proceeds to integrate it into the genome of the host. In general, most retroviruses infect somatic cells, but there are also cases when some retroviruses can also infect germline cells. When this happens then the RNA integrated DNA genome is inherited by the next generation. Thus it is known as endogenous.

Endogenous viruses, because of the way they have been integrated into the genome can actually persist for a very long period of time – in fact, it can remain for tens of millions of years. The good thing though is that it only gets infectious for a short period time, usually after integration, since they get mutations that would have a “knockout” effect at the point where the host DNA is replicated. It is also possible for endogenous retrovirus to be excised (even though just in part) from the genome. This is done through a process called recombinational deletion.

Web Resources On Endogenous Retrovirus

Multiple effects govern endogenous retrovirus survival patterns in human gene introns
Thorough History and Description of Retroviruses

Book Resources On Endogenous Retrovirus

Retrovirus Biology and Human Disease by R. C. Gallo
The Evolution of the Genome by T. Ryan Gregory

Site Maps: Most Recent | Clusters | Browse
New: Graduate Student Job Opportunity