On Sun, 02 May 1999 06:21:57 +0000, Giorgio Cosentino
<giorgio1 at hooked.net> wrote:
>Hi,
> I was just reading about endogenous retroviruses and about how
>these fragments of the viral genome can be passed along in mendelian
>fashion. I was wondering if anyone could recommend to me any literature
>on the role that viruses have played in the evolution of living
>organisms. Thanks in advance!
Do a search on "transposable elements" and "jumping genes".
There is a professor at University of Idaho, Moscow, who has found
evidence of a large number of such DNA segments in the human genome--
presumably placed there by viruses. Also, if you look into bacterial
genetics, you'll find that bacteria exchange DNA non-sexually by
taking up DNA fragments that they encounter in their environment;
sometimes those fragments get incorporated into the genome.
Steve
Steve McGrew
New Light Industries, Ltd.
Fax: 509-456-8351
Phone: 509-456-8321
http://www.iea.com/~nli
email: stevem at iea.com
