[extropy-chat] Viruses as the Driver of Evolution

[Kurt Schoedel]

The idea that viruses, especially retroviruses, are the driver of 
evolution should not supprise anyone. It makes sense and should be 
obvious to everyone since the discovery of the HERVs (human endongenous 
retroviruses) that exist in the 10,000s in the human genetic code.

I first learned of HERVs when I read Laurie Garrett's book, "The Coming 
Plague", about 10 years ago. I saw sitting in a bar in the Roppongi 
when the thought occurred to me that infectious agents have got to be 
the driving force behind evolution.

There is more. There is another researcher who has written a book about 
evolution. Her name is Lynn Caporale and her book is "Darwin in the 
Genome", in which she constructs a theory of evolution that is also 
based on infectious agents.

Kurt Schoedel
MetaTechnica