Friday, October 23, 2026
Science

An ancient virus in chimpanzee DNA switches off a gene that is active in humans

Humans and chimpanzees share almost all their genes. Despite this, our brains have developed in different ways. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now shown that a viral pandemic dating back several million years is likely to be part of the explanation.

An ancient virus in chimpanzee DNA switches off a gene that is active in humans
Image: Phys.org
Humans and chimpanzees share almost all their genes. Despite this, our brains have developed in different ways. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now shown that a viral pandemic dating back several million years is likely to be part of the explanation.

Originally published at Phys.org

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