According to DNA, You're Half-Human, Half-Virus

Originally posted by liquidself
reply to post by Muckster

 

I respectfully disagree that it is a sensationalist topic. It appears to me to be a legitimate, even logical result in hindsight. there is only one genetic system on earth as far as we know. I think a more to point question would be how much our animal friends are also composed of viruses. I do not myself subscribe to the idea that humans are apart from nature per se or intrinsically evil (though there is much to recomend the latter) but the degree and amount to which we may have literally been formed BY viruses is disturbing. Say we had another million years in which to evolve - would we be then 80-90 percent virus?

[edit on 1-2-2010 by liquidself]

+1 Agreed. There's no sensationaism here. This is an article in the weekly publication New scientist Magazine of which I have been subscribing for years. It's perfectly legitimate for it to be discussed there and here.

I too have thoughts regarding our place in nature as well as about the rationalisation of evil. The idea that evil is merely another facet of nature and therefore should be embraced. It's a very interesting subject. The idea that we may possibly be being manipulated by viruses in our genome is fascinating. I could imagine a rabies like illness in reverse where say the virus could only be spread by water and a side effect of the disease is to make the host seek out water. Isn't there a rat/cat virus that influences rats to the point where they act recklessly making their predation more likely, after which the virus completes it's lifecycle? Or was that in a movie?

So....what do we do to form a vaccine?

Because I think this is a little out of control at this point.

If I am correct, I would suspect that I am at least on the right track, vaccines are a form of herd management.

Not just of sickness, but of how we are changing.0

Where peoples' DNA whom accept vaccines are all "hearing" the same story about survival. Those pieces eventually teach our genes and RNA by speaking to it in their language. We are therefore changing at a similar pace in a similar modality with exactly the same message transmitted over the entire herd.

And we still get the same "wild" message when we encounter the mutating versions.

Originally posted by Aeons
If I am correct, I would suspect that I am at least on the right track, vaccines are a form of herd management.

Not just of sickness, but of how we are changing.0

Where peoples' DNA whom accept vaccines are all "hearing" the same story about survival. Those pieces eventually teach our genes and RNA by speaking to it in their language. We are therefore changing at a similar pace in a similar modality with exactly the same message transmitted over the entire herd.

And we still get the same "wild" message when we encounter the mutating versions.

What about me, who's never had a vaccine or flu shot, etc? I've never even had the flu so far as I can remember back...

Originally posted by dawnstar
virus' seem to have the tendency to mutate quite often. change alot.

I wonder if our viral dna changes as often, and if so, could this be what causes evolution in lifeforms?

I think it's more like we assimilate something and if it (the virus) happens to do something useful it remains active (protein encoding). Otherwise it becomes "junk" (=natural selection). Well that's the simple version.

Ummm yeah...
Humans ARE a virus. This isn't new knowledge by any means.
We destroy our livelihood by the square MILE every day (probably much more than that) in our Rainforest in the Amazon (the "lungs" of the planet).

We are literally killing ourselves for our desire to feel "good" (consuming cigarettes, alcohol, you name it...)

Species on this planet are pretty much all viral. That is why there is a balance of species available to check the whole.
Homeostatis is a term we learn that implies we have an inate ability to live in harmony with that around us, but it misses the mark. It isn't us, or any other species, that has that ability.
Whatever IT is that creates the balance, is... well, what we should strive to become.

But luckily, we are trying.

We are intelligent enough that we at least realize the damage we are doing.
So in that sense, yeah the article hits on a valid point.
It appears there is a part of us that strives to be UNLIKE a virus.

And I think that is profound.

reply to post by JayinAR


You know, a virus is not intrinsically a bad thing in and of itself. I mean, sure there are horrific viruses to get, but ultimately it is just trying to survive just like us humans, who are er, 50% virus. Anyways - A virus as I understand it has trouble qualifying as a lifeform because it needs to make use of the reproductive "machinery" of a host, making it supremely parasitic in nature if not always in fact. So if we are viruses we are using the earth's reproductive " machinery" to reproduce our code. It's close, for the purpose I think you intend, but really far from a perfect fit as an analogy (though the topic of this thread discloses only a 50% analogy)

I guess the point is that I get what you are saying, just why make viruses the bad guy? When the bad guys is us (in this context)>

reply to post by Aeons


Aeon the material you are talking about is actually quite complex. I am wondering if you could clarify?

I am trying to understand the possible mechanisms by which this kind of operation could be carried out. Are you talking about this on a deep genetic level - so that vaccines themselves could contain specific endogens carrying codes/messages to human genes?

by the way if I accurately get the vibe you are on I would suggest this:

www.fantasticfiction.co.uk...

as well as his Blood Music. Not for the faint of heart.
the ideas in these books are very intriguing (that is, if you havent already read them)

reply to post by liquidself


Ummm....

Because we ARE the bad guys.

reply to post by JayinAR


C'mon stop sprayin the furniture. You are in fact agreeing with me. So why bring up viruses at all?

reply to post by spookfish


It strange that you bring up rabies. If anyone knows any better let me know, but I believe that rabies IS subject (in a way I have no idea how and am way too lazy to look up right now) to water, and so its victims... avoid water. the comparison was mentioned on a very popular TV show that is not the X files recently. The mysteries of co-evolution multiply.

As for evil well. I suppose I d have to say evil is in the eye of the beholder. Have you checked into any Jung lately?

Some people posted here saying humans use up resources and over produce everything and waste, lets not get carried away here.

I think you are refering to a certain race of people know as "whites" doing this because based on my historical research, the first race of people to put the planet in the hell hole with over production over greed of money are "whites".

Before the slave trade the Natives and Hispanics of North and South America and the rest of the world never over produced, they only took what was needed. The Natives and Blacks thought it was incredibly strange how Whites were over producing and farming everything possible, they never seen anything like it, also theft was unknown to them.

Just wanted to clear that up, don't want to lump the whole human race into the retardedness of one group of people, let them take the credit most of us wanted nothing to do with that.

Hope that doesn't offend anyone but facts are facts.

reply to post by liquidself


I didn't bring up virii. The article did.
And I'm not agreeing with you unless you are agreeing with me when I agreed with the article.
What are you on about?

reply to post by EndOfTheWorld7


Are you kidding me?
whites inroduced theft?!


Racist, unfounded garbage.

No one's ever thought that human beings activity patterns resemble that of a virus? Viruses move in, take advantage, and usurp resources until there is nothing left, then they move on or die. Just like humans. Not saying that we are viruses or anything, but we might as well be a virus to this planet.

reply to post by EndOfTheWorld7


The Beasts of the past and present are all alike, but come in many different flavors.

Your historical observations are not as strong as the force behind your words.
I am quite put off by your conduct when combined with scripture quotations.

Reserve your strength for those who claim strength (self-control requires much strength) and reserve your compassion for those who are weak (likewise, shepherding requires much strength).

Be as our Creators above; gracious judges and wise and able servants.

[edit on 2/1/2010 by Dasher]

reply to post by Dasher


Not sure what your going on about but you can't honestly think it's ok to blame the whole world for whites over producing the living hell out of the world?

Thats just wrong.
Credit is due where credit is due. Don't drag the rest of the world into the horrible sins of a few.

I think this viral aspect is what gave humanity is ultimate and continuing ability to adapt. To evolve. Our synapses, our bodies, our bones. All are adapted for the environment in which we live. We are sculpted to fit our surroundings, and survive them.
Low landers tend to be taller, and thinner. Peoples from high places , like mountainous regions tend to be shorter and stockier, allowing for larger lungs to strip every available bit of air from the thinner atmosphere and a lower centre of gravity, increasing balance which is important for life at altitude.
I think that without that viral aspect, we might not be so supremely adaptable, or at least, our adaptations might not be as affective as they obviously are. Remember, there is almost no where on earth, save for the oceans, where man cannot survive. There are peoples living in the deserts, and at the poles of the earth. We thrive almost anywhere we go because of our ability to adapt to not only the terrain we originate from, but our ability to learn. Our minds evolve very quickly when faced with new and unfamiliar challenges, urged on by the primal instinct for survival. When a man is stuck on a desert island, or lost in the jungle for months or years, he may loose the ability to talk for a time. But he will gain the capacity for hearing the ebb and flow of the world around him, his mind will adapt to the environs, making him more aware of potential food sources, places where water may be found, and after a time getting used to avoiding predators and so forth. There have been many cases of man left in strange circumstances, and adapting to them. Perhaps the most viral part of our being , is the mind.Also , do not forget that when you get a cold and you have a fully functional immune system, that system learns just as much about the virus that is attacking you, as it learns about your bodies defenses against it! You could say that our immune systems are virus like in some ways. They change just as much as viruses do. They have to , otherwise we wouldnt be here at all !

Originally posted by Common Good
we do consume everything till theres nothing left, we use all of our resources without thinkin about the consequences. We kill eachother in order to survive.

weird.

[edit on 1-2-2010 by Common Good]

Interesting. I must not be human.

I'm guessing you're not human either. Usually a human does not make so apparently their hypocrisy by accusing everyone of being a virus if he/she consideres him/herself a virus.

So... what makes up your and my DNA?

And you call yourself "Common Good"... come now.

Originally posted by liquidself

According to DNA, You're Half-Human, Half-Virus

www.disinfo.com

...All in all, the virus-like components of the human genome amount to almost half of our DNA. This would once have been dismissed as mere “junk DNA”, but we now know that some of it plays a critical role in our biology. As to the origins and function of the rest, we simply do not know.

The human genome therefore presents us with a paradox. How does this viral DNA come to be there? What role has it played in our evolution, and what is it doing to our physiology? To answer these questions we need to deconstruct the origins of the human genome — a story more fantastic than anything we p

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.newscientist.com

Actually it makes sense because viruses struggle to survive and exist against the odds as humans do so there are many character attributes related between the two. And mabey those attributes are what seperates what organisims gets to evolve faster and which dont due to lack of constant aggression to survive and reproduce.

[edit on 2/2/10 by Ophiuchus 13]