Our genetic code and viruses
Our genetic code was built by viruses. Today, we understand that more than 50% of the 20,000 human genes were inserted directly and preserved by and through viruses.
Interestingly, at least 8% of those human genes were built by RNA retroviruses like HIV, the same viruses that we live in opposition to. A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell, therefore changing the genome of that cell. If we continue down this path toward eliminating these retroviruses, we are bound to go extinct because we will lose our adaptive capacity of being human.
We see this trend clearly through the treatment of retroviruses. One example is protease inhibitors, an antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV. Protease inhibitors are effective at blocking the replication of HIV, but because they block communication between retroviruses and the human genome, they also lead to serious complications within the endocrine system. These complications include fat gathering around the abdomen, insulin resistance, diabetes, and pancreatitis.
Similar effects are also happening within the larger population. Our over-steeped drug environment, filled with antibiotics and antiviral treatments, is undermining the very physiology of energy production within the cell. When humans lose energy production, we accumulate fat. And when we can't turn that fat into energy, we begin to store it. This is a clear sign of mitochondrial metabolism, the function of energy production.
As we undermine these fundamentals of genomic information transferred to and from, the result is a population level failure of energy production. And it's a daunting thing how far we've missed.
Listen to the full webinar, The Virome: A template for a regenerative future as part of the Global Health Education initiative, a link to the full webinar below