It is a strange family of viruses that entered the human genome millions of years ago and represent 8% of our DNA, compared to less than 3% for “classic” genes. These “human endogenous retroviruses” or “HERVs” were discovered a few years ago by researchers from Inserm and the Institut Mérieux.
In most individuals, HERVs are dormant: mechanisms repress the expression of their protein. But in others, in particular patients with multiple sclerosis, these proteins with…
