According to new research published in Nature, depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder are linked with ancient viral DNA known as HERVs in our genome.
Ancient viruses have left behind genetic sequences that makeup 8% of human DNA. These sequences are known as human endogenous retroviruses or Hervs, and they have been there for hundreds of thousands to millions of years—some of them even before Homo sapiens appeared on the scene.
According to the most recent research, there may be a connection between some old viral DNA sequences in the human genome and the vulnerability to mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder.
The surviving retroviruses from these infections are known as hervs. Retroviruses are a type of virus that replicates its genetic material within the infected cells' DNA. We were most likely infected by retroviruses more than once during our evolutionary history. Upon infection of sperm or egg cells that produc...