STudy on Viruses and Their Role In Human Eveolution

February 19th, 2010

Scientists in Italy have found evidence of the role viruses played in human evolution they said Friday. Their hope is that they can use this information to study and create vaccines and better drugs (nice) in the future.

They found more than 400 different mutations in 139 genes that play a role in people’s risk of catching viruses. This could help them figure out why some people are more susceptible to viruses such as the flu, while others seem to just avoid it altogether.

“We found that these genes had been selected — and from this concept we can extrapolate that many of these genes might make you more or less susceptible to viruses,” Manuela Sironi, who led the work, said in a telephone interview.

Sironi made sure to stress that the work was “very preliminary” and would need to be replicated by others and tested in the lab.

She also said a similar method to the one her team used could be used to find genes that boost or cut the risk of infections from other bugs such as bacteria. You can find more on the study here as well as side effects of diet pills as another read.