Mutated DNA, Morgan and You

In my mythos, my vampires never died to be resurrected corpses.  They are mutants, a virus having altered their mortal DNA into immortals with powers greater than their original human selves. 

My anthology, Morgan D’Arcy: A Vampyre Rhapsody and in the soon to be released Sinners’ Opera, the book of my heart, both star Morgan D’Arcy, my favorite of my characters. These vampires can’t bear sunlight, but the Cross and garlic have no effect on them. The vampires as a race are called Vampyre. Morgan is something of a rebel and determined to marry a mortal. Lucien, the Chief Councilor of the council that rules the Vampyre, must prevent him from doing so. Rhapsody is now available on Amazon and other on-line sites.

Back to the mutated DNA! Interestingly enough, I found the information below on the internet.  My viral mutations are actually possible (maybe not to the extent in my books yet still within reason):

  

Date:  January 8, 2010

Source:  University of Texas at Arlington

Summary:

 “About eight percent of human genetic material comes from a virus and not from our ancestors, according to a new study. The research shows that the genomes of humans and other mammals contain DNA derived from the insertion of bornaviruses, RNA viruses whose replication and transcription takes place in the nucleus.”

In the 2000s, a scientist at the University of Michigan studied people with HIV and found other viruses in the blood of these subjects.  Surprisingly, these viruses came from within the patients’ own DNA.

Retroviruses, including HIV, share three common genes:  gag, which gives rise to the inner shell that stores the virus’s genes; env makes knobs on the outer surface of the virus, allowing it to adhere to the cells and invade them; and finally pol.  The latter makes an enzyme which introduces the virus’s genes into the host cell’s DNA."

Actually, the human genome contains segments of DNA matching pol, env, and gag.  Scientists have found sizeable quantity of retrovirus DNA in our genes, in fact, as stated above, eight percent of the human genome.  Both in human and other species, studies of these endogenous retroviruses reveal that they have genetically merged with the human DNA.  Retroviruses regularly infected our ancestors, but rarely infected sperm or an egg, but when they did, they managed to permeate an embryo, new cells in the embryo inheriting the retrovirus DNA.  When the child grew into an adult and produced offspring, the DNA of the virus was transmitted as well.
So, Morgan, Lucien and the Vampyre could possibly exist.

Happy Friday!  You have viral altered DNA.  J