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Uncynical_Diogenes t1_jcm5rm0 wrote

Reply to comment by -Metacelsus- in Are there any known endogenous retroviruses that can cause active infections, and is this possible in principle? by amlyo

They might carry it, sure, but I’d argue it was likely their great-grandparent^nth that was actually infected.

I think this line of inquiry is more about re-emergence of previously-dormant ERVs. As a human, some ~1-8% of my DNA is ERVs, depending on who you ask, but I’m pretty confident that I was never infected by any of them myself. I was just born carrying them.

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