• Question: Are there any viruses that are good for you or are they all bad? :)

    Asked by Erika Pajimna ❤ to Sinead on 16 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Sinead Loughran

      Sinead Loughran answered on 16 Nov 2016:

      That’s a great question Erika.

      Yes there are beneficial viruses.

      For example, there are viruses found in the gastro intestinal tract that infect bacteria—known as phage—and they may control bacterial genes involved in digestion.

      Also a gene which codes for the protein syncitin, which essential in the establishment of the placenta, is actually borrowed from a virus and is now permanently incorporated into human DNA.

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