Viruses in our Genomes: Unending Surprises

Dr. John Coffin of Tufts University presents to the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus on Viruses in our Genomes: Unending Surprises. Watch as Dr. John Coffin sheds light on a revolutionary study that sounds more like detective work than typical science. He’ll explain how our DNA is full of DNA that comes from retroviruses, some of which are 30-40 million years old. There is no fossil record for any other virus, except for retroviruses, that we carry with us. Scientists can follow the retrovirus path back and do a lot of paleontogy to understand how these viruses co-evolved with the host. Dr. Coffin is working with a team to resurrect these viruses, or at least parts of them. These viruses may be “long-dead,” but studying them could yield information that’s key to understanding current retroviruses—which, according to Dr. Coffin are remarkably similar to their predecessors.