Ancient viral DNA may play a key role in early human development, new study suggests

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The human genome is made up of 23 pairs of chromosomes, the biological blueprints that make humans … well, human. But it turns out that some of our DNA — about 8% — are the remnants of ancient viruses that embedded themselves into our genetic code over the course of human evolution.

These ancient viruses lie in sections of our DNA called transposable elements, or TEs, also known as “jumping genes” due to their ability to copy and paste themselves throughout the genome. TEs, which account for nearly half of our genetic material, were once waved off as “junk” DNA, sequences that appear to have no biological function. Now, a new study offers support for the hypothesis that t