reddit.com· r/science · Reddit·· 5 hours agoPickScore78
A virus that infected chimps (but not humans) 4 million years ago left DNA that switches off a gene helping young brain cells grow and connect. Turning it off in lab-grown human mini-brains stunted neurons, and using CRISPR to remove the viral DNA from chimp stem cells switched the gene back on.
In brief
Gerdes, Jakobsson and colleagues at Lund University report in Science Advances (DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aeg5791) that PTERV1, a virus that infected chimpanzee ancestors roughly 5-7 million years ago, left an insertion on chromosome 19 that silences LINC00662 through methylation.
Why it matters
CRISPR deletion and gene-silencing experiments link the PTERV1 insertion to LINC00662 expression and neurodevelopmental gene activity, offering a transferable mechanism-testing approach.
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