Carl Zimmer via The New York Times:

‘Scientists have discovered a virus that is a tiny bit human, carrying a gene it stole from our ancestors about 100,000 years ago. And this virus may be using our own gene to infect us.

Previous studies have demonstrated that viruses can pick up genes from their hosts. But the new discovery, reported Thursday in the journal Science, may be the first known instance of a virus with a human gene acquired in recent evolutionary history…

Dr. Feschotte and his colleagues discovered the human gene in molluscum contagiosum virus, a distant relative of smallpox. It causes small sores on the skin that typically disappear after a few months. It only infects humans, often children…’

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