Perhaps you’ve heard of the recent discovery of 19 Pieces Of Non-Human DNA Found in the Human Genome. If you haven’t, here’s what you need to know.
More than a few headlines tossed the term, “Alien DNA in Human Genome” or something close to it. The Non-Human DNA found in the Human Genome is foreign, but not Alien as in other worldly. What they are talking about is viral fragments recovered from a hip bone sample taken from the 5,300 year old Iceman mummy.
If you can forgive the sensational headlines, it is still interesting like breadcrumbs left behind for others to follow, the information can be used to track population movements and interactions of the past. Those encampments of Non-Human DNA viral fragments make our genome and that of the Iceman mummy similar to an archaeology site of a battlefield, because in the fight against disease the best direction forward is often defined by the past.
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