Humans no longer have ancient defence mechanism against viruses

(KU Leuven) Insects and plants have an important ancient defense mechanism that helps them to fight viruses. This is encoded in their DNA. Scientists have long assumed that vertebrates -- including humans -- also had this same mechanism. But researchers at KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Belgium, have found that vertebrates lost this particular asset in the course of their evolution.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news