A stretch of DNA in the mouse genome left by ancient viral infections is crucial for early development in the womb, new research shows.
According to the study, published in December in the journal Science Advances, this viral DNA switches on genes that give cells in early-stage mouse embryos the potential to become almost any cell type in the body. The viral DNA — known as MERVL — itself gets activated by a protein called the "Dux transcription factor," which binds to the sequence and essentially kick-starts the embryo's development.
