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The virus dates back at least to Neanderthals and is present in the RASGRF2 gene – which the researcher has called the "pleasure gene" because it increases the activity of dopamine in the brain – in about 5% to 10% of people .
This proportion of the population may be more prone to addiction, the scientists said.
The team from Oxford University and Athens found the virus in 34% of drug users tested in Glasgow, Scotland, against 9.5% of the local population and 14% of Greek patients, against 6% of the population. population of this country. population.
Retroviruses are viruses that can inject their DNA into the genome of the host.
This is the third time that they are strongly linked to a harmful effect in humans, after the findings of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), according to the researchers.
HK2 is present in all humans, but appears in the RASGRF2 gene in up to one in ten people. The study suggests that these people "might be subject to any addictive behavior, even beneficial in some sense," CNN's Gkikas Magiorkinis of the University of Athens told CNN.
And the researchers said that to study the rarely analyzed, "dark" part of the genome they've examined "will unlock more genomic secrets."
"Endogenous human retroviruses account for 8% of the genome and have not yet been linked to the human disease," said Magiorkinis.
"I believe that an important part of this diversity of unexplained diseases will be understood by studying this" dark "genome difficult to understand," he added.
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