Depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder linked with ancient viral DNA in our genome – new research

By Rodrigo Duarte, Research Fellow, King's College London
Douglas Nixon, Professor of Immunology in Medicine, Cornell University
Timothy Powell, Senior lecturer, King's College London

Around 8% of human DNA is made up of genetic sequences acquired from ancient viruses. These sequences, known as human endogenous retroviruses (or Hervs), date back hundreds of thousands to millions of years – with some even predating the emergence of Homo sapiens.

Our latest research suggests that some ancient viral DNA sequences in…

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