# evol: iterative hacking mechanics; a large group of viruses can assemble human-virus codes to produce novel chimeric (UFO) proteins

<< Like a scene out of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," a virus infects a host and converts it into a factory for making more copies of itself. Now researchers have shown that a large group of viruses, including the influenza viruses and other serious pathogens, steal genetic signals from their hosts to expand their own genomes. >>

AA << looked at a large group of viruses known as segmented negative-strand RNA viruses (sNSVs), which include widespread and serious pathogens of humans, domesticated animals and plants, including the influenza viruses and Lassa virus (..) by stealing genetic signals from their hosts, viruses can produce a wealth of previously undetected proteins. The researchers labeled them as UFO (Upstream Frankenstein Open reading frame) proteins, as they are encoded by stitching together the host and viral sequences. There was no knowledge of the existence of these kinds of proteins prior to this study. >>

Viruses can steal our genetic code to create new human-virus genes. The Mount Sinai Hospital. Jun 18, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-viruses-genetic-code-human-virus-genes.html

Jessica Sook Yuin Ho, Matthew Angel, et al. Hybrid Gene Origination Creates Human-Virus Chimeric Proteins during Infection. Cell. Vol 181, Issue 7, P1502-1517.e23. doi: 10.1016/ j.cell.2020.05.035. June 25, 2020. 

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30630-9