According to two papers published in the Journal Cell a month ago, a virus bound it's genetic code to the genome of animals. It's resting in our brain for million of years and it could be responsible for human consiousness.
Both studies suggests that our memory comes from an ancient virus, which infected a four-limbed mammal around 400.000 years ago.
Little pieces of that viral genetic code are still alive in our brains today! Scientists believe that the virus was repurposed during evolution, it evolved into the Arc gene and rested in our brain.
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In this picture you can see that Arc retains retroviral-like-capsid forming ability and can transmit m RNA between cells.
This gene is believed to be vital to how our nerves transmit information and can be responsible for our ability to think and response. Arc gene packages up genetic information and sends it from one neuron to another. This gene functions in a similar way to a virus.
Some viruses store their genetic code in RNA rather than DNA. Arc writes down its own genetic instruction s in coding molecules called RNA.
Then it encapsulates its RNA in a virus -like shell. The shells protect the information inside while it travels between neurons and ultimately pass messages between different parts of the brain.
Researchers are unsure exactly what information it's passing between our cells today, but they found that without this RNA information our synapses would stop functioning correctly and die off. Arc gene is essential for long-term memory formation in mammalian brain.
Mutations in this gene have been linked to neurological disorders, including Autism, Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's.
Viruses are often known as genetic parasites. They inject their genetic code into a host-cell and hijack the cell's machinery to produce more copies of themselves . This process is either useless or harmful to the host. However, every once in a while, the injected viral genes are useful enouhg to hang around and become part of our genome. Forty to eighty per cent of the human genome comes from ancient viral invasions!
Experts in neuroscience and ancient viruses are working together to find the exact molecular mechanism of Arc gene in humans. They use viruses to deliver fesired genes into certain cells. This allows them to genetically engineer cells in any desirable way.
I know that my article is difficult to understand for the most of you, because there are many medical terminologies, that's why i will explaing you some of them.
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid, is a thred-like chain of nucleotides carrying the genetic instructions. Nearly every cell in a person has the same DNA.
RNA: Ribonucleic acid polymerase is a member of a family of enzymes that are essential to life and is responsible for copying a DNA sequence(double sequence) into an RNA sequence(single sequence ).
Gene: It's a sequence of DNA or RNA, which codes for a molecule that has a function.
Genome: It's an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes.
Mutation: A gene mutation is a permanent alteration in the DNA sequence and the sequence differs from what is found in most people.
I hope that it helps you to understand more!
Until next time if you like it...
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