Depression, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Linked With Ancient Viral DNA in Our Genome – New Research
27th May 2024
“Linked with” means “we can’t find an actual link–causal connection–so we’re making one up”.
Around 8% of human DNA is made up of genetic sequences acquired from ancient viruses. These sequences, known as human endogenous retroviruses (or Hervs), date back hundreds of thousands to millions of years – with some even predating the emergence of Homo sapiens.
Our latest research suggests that some ancient viral DNA sequences in the human genome play a role in susceptibility to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.
Hervs represent the remnants of these infections with ancient retroviruses. Retroviruses are viruses that insert a copy of their genetic material into the DNA of the cells they infect. Retroviruses probably infected us on multiple occasions during our evolutionary past. When these infections occurred in sperm or egg cells that generated offspring, the genetic material from these retroviruses was passed on to subsequent generations, becoming a permanent part of our lineage.
[Emphasis added.] All correlation can do is suggest; it can’t link. (Of course, if correlation is all you’ve got, that’s what you go with. But let’s not pretend that it’s actually, you know, a link.)