# Mutation from a Virus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutation-from-a-virus/382176 "2006-11-29T05:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutation-from-a-virus/382176/1 "2006-11-29T05:55:42Z")
In another thread, a wikipedia article was linked: [HeLa - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa#Chromosome_number) It mentions in that article that papiloma viruses often actually become part of the DNA of cervical cancer cells. (Or something like that.) This I didn’t know. This leads me to wonder, could there be a propagable mutation initiated by a viral invasion? As in, an organism’s cells are invaded by a virus which ends up actually altering some of that organism’s sex cells’ DNA, leading to a mutation in its offspring, which is then propagated through those offspring’s offspring, and so on? Is this a recognized mechanism for the kind of mutation that can potentially have a hand in speciation? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutation-from-a-virus/382176/2 "2006-11-29T06:25:16Z")
It definitely happens. I can’t think of a special term for such a mutation… Usually though, if an insertion like that happens in the middle of the gene, that gene is effectively broken. It’s a very common event, in terms of evolutionary history; I’ve seen figures that say something like 40% of our genome is made up of fragments of retroviruses and transposons. Transposons, which are short sequences of DNA that manage to splice themselves in and out of a genome like retroviruses can, are also used by biologists to cause mutations in a model organism. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutation-from-a-virus/382176/3 "2006-11-29T06:59:26Z")
Yep. The term is HERV (Human Endogenous RetroVirus). Retroviruses write themselves into the host’s genome. The Wikipedia article on [retroviruses](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrovirus) talks about how this happens. If I remember right, there is a discussion of this in [The Coming Plague](http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Plague-Emerging-Diseases-Balance/dp/0140250913), which talks about all kinds of diseases and how they propagate. Been a while since I read it though, so I can’t vouch for my memory. A fictitious but, in typical Greg Bear fashion, well-researched book uses HERVs as a plot point. [Darwin’s Radio](http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Radio-Greg-Bear/dp/0345435249/sr=1-1/qid=1164782958/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2457911-8884713?ie=UTF8&s=books). The ideas there, which are pretty well explained in the narrative, will give you the vocabulary and basics of how stuff works so that you can do more research if you want. Also, it’s a pretty entertaining book in its own right. Something cool I found when I quickly looked up retroviruses was this [Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/science/07virus.html?ex=1320555600&en=492dd1d370217836&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss) article on re-creating ancient viruses from leftovers in our DNA. Weird cutting-edge science there. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutation-from-a-virus/382176/4 "2006-11-29T07:09:14Z")
**Sleel** gave an excellent post on the basic science. “Gene therapy” was actually attempted in the mid 1990’s using this technique. The idea was that you could insert a functional gene into someone’s non-functioning liver or whatnot via an adenovirus, but there were a lot of sudden inexplicable deaths in the early trials that have kept the idea on the shelf recently. Perhaps if we can figure out what led to the sudden deaths in the earlier trials. ---
**Author:** ![intention](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e95f7d/32.png) [@intention](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/intention)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutation-from-a-virus/382176/5 "2006-11-29T11:10:15Z")
There’s a wierd example of this, which is that the malaria mosquitoes have a bit of plant dna in their makeup, which makes them susceptible to being killed by certain herbicides … w. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutation-from-a-virus/382176/6 "2006-11-29T13:54:26Z")
[QUOTE=Sleel] A fictitious but, in typical Greg Bear fashion, well-researched book uses HERVs as a plot point. [Darwin’s Radio](http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Radio-Greg-Bear/dp/0345435249/sr=1-1/qid=1164782958/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2457911-8884713?ie=UTF8&s=books). The ideas there, which are pretty well explained in the narrative, will give you the vocabulary and basics of how stuff works so that you can do more research if you want. Also, it’s a pretty entertaining book in its own right. [/QUOTE] Eh. L. Sprague De Camp did the same thing un 1938, in his short story _Hyperpilosity_. > **[The Best of L. Sprague de Camp: L. Sprague De Camp, Poul Anderson: Amazon.com:...](https://www.amazon.com/Best-L-Sprague-Camp/dp/B000BN65FA)** > > The Best of L. Sprague de Camp \[L. Sprague De Camp, Poul Anderson\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Best of L. Sprague de Camp ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutation-from-a-virus/382176/7 "2006-11-29T14:01:51Z")
To be fair, every good sci-fi idea was done by someone back in the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. That’s why Sci-Fi was reduced to pulp style stuff and fancy graphics by the time Star Wars rolled around: nerds had already consumed their full share of it.