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Are viruses our oldest ancestors?
Author(s) -
Moelling Karin
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1038/embor.2012.173
Subject(s) - notice , population , viral evolution , biology , nothing , evolutionary biology , genetics , rna , political science , sociology , gene , philosophy , demography , law , epistemology
We tend to regard viruses only as pathogens and thereby dismiss their crucial importance for the evolution of life. Viruses were not only the probable precursors of the first cells, but they have helped to shape and build the genomes of all species, including humans.