Scientists discovered that giant viruses hiding inside the DNA of a marine alga can wake up, replicate, and spread — both to offspring and to neighboring cells. This overturns the idea that viral DNA buried in a host genome is just harmless genetic baggage.
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Full-length, functional phaeovirus genomes were found fully integrated and transcriptionally active within the brown alga Ectocarpus host genome
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Viral reactivation is triggered by specific environmental and developmental cues, including temperature shifts, demonstrating precise host-controlled regulation
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Using CRISPR-Cas and classical genetics, the team confirmed these viral elements are stably inherited through the germline and can spread both vertically (to offspring) and horizontally (to neighboring cells)
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