Author: Lori Jia
A while back I blogged about the tens of thousands of viruses we carry in our genomes. In today’s New York Times I write about how scientists reconstructed a working ancestral virus from its disabled descendants: Old Viruses Resurrected Through DNA.
Here’s the original paper.
Originally published November 7, 2006. Copyright 2006 Carl Zimmer.
The New York Times, November 7, 2006
Thanks to advances in DNA technology, scientists can now reconstruct new copies of old viruses. Last year United States government scientists reconstructed the virus that caused the influenza epidemic of 1918. Now a team of French scientists has rebuilt a virus that infected our apelike ancestors several million years ago.
The scientists did not isolate a virus from a fossil. Instead, they examined vestiges of the virus that survive today within the human genome.
About 100,000 segments of human DNA are remarkably similar to retroviruses, a class of viruses that includes HIV. Retroviruses insert a copy of their genes into the genome of their host cell. Scientists estimate that 8 percent of the human genome is made up of this viral DNA, known as human endogenous retroviruses, or HERVs.
Just an update to my post about talking this weekend at the National Association of Science Writers meeting: in addition to the panel I was originally scheduled to join–on book publicity–I’ve also been added to a panel talk on Friday afternoon called “Navigating the New Media.” I’m subbing for writer Rebecca Skloot, who cannot come.
Originally published October 26, 2006. Copyright 2006 Carl Zimmer.
To sequence the human genome, scientists established a network of laboratories, equipped with robots that could analyze DNA day and night. Once they began to finish up the human genome a few years ago, they began to wonder what species to sequence next. With millions of species to choose from, they could only pick a handful that would give the biggest bang for the buck. Squabbling ensued, with different coalitions of scientists lobbied for different species. Some argued successfully for medically important species, such as the mosquito that carries malaria. Others made the case for chimpanzees, to help them pinpoint that genes that make us uniquely human. And in 2002, a team of scientists made the case for the humble honeybee.
I’ll be speaking on Saturday at the National Association of Science Writers annual meeting in Baltimore. I’ll be discussing how writers can publicize science books in the age of the Internet. It’s a subject I’m still figuring out for myself, so I won’t be dispensing advice so much as sharing thoughts. Details are here.
I’m part of a scienceblogger invasion at the meeting. Matthew Nisbet will be there, talking about reporting on global warming, and Chris Mooney will be speaking about writing about science in new media.
Originally published October 23, 2006. Copyright 2006 Carl Zimmer.