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A comment on How the placenta evolved from an ancient virus. Parent comment

Re:How the placenta evolved from an ancient virus by klyrs on Wednesday January 06, 2021 @12:46PM (#25660149)
At this point in time, do you really think that viruses are incapable of sweeping the globe and infecting a significant fraction of humanity, if they don't provide a benefit to the host?
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Re:How the placenta evolved from an ancient virus by remram on Wednesday January 06, 2021 @04:55PM (#25663135)
The parent was more specific and asked about changing a species's genome. Infecting everyone does not lead to a change in genome if they die (or fight it off).

Assuming a low percent of the infected get their genome changed or produce offspring with altered genome, those don't take over.

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Re:How the placenta evolved from an ancient virus by kridsdale1 on Thursday January 07, 2021 @05:51PM (#25678788)
They don't need to provide a benefit. They only need to not reduce fertility.
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