Like modern HIV, ancient human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) had to insert their genetic material into their host’s genome to replicate. Possible sites of HML-2 expression. Image credit: Burn et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001826. Viruses insert their genomes into their hosts in the form of a provirus. There are around 30 different kinds of HERVs in people today, amounting to over 60,000 proviruses in the human genome. They demonstrate the...
