Current Biology
Volume 26, Issue 10, 23 May 2016, Pages R427-R429
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Evolution: Endogenous Viruses Provide Shortcuts in Antiviral Immunity

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.072Get rights and content
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Summary

Endogenous viruses are occasionally co-opted by their hosts to combat other viruses. The discovery of the widespread recruitment of endogenous viruses as regulatory elements for immune genes points to a systematic evolutionary process in their co-option for host immunity.

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