SUFFER FROM BLONDE moments? Have the occasional memory lapse? You may be able to blame it on your DNA.
Scientists have discovered a virus that infects human brains and effectively makes us more stupid, according to a recently published study.
Researchers from John Hopkins Medical School and the University of Nebraska observed that the algae virus, known as ACTV-1, affected basic cognitive skills, including spatial awareness and visual processing.
The discovery was made while scientists were carrying out a totally unrelated study into throat microbes when they discovered DNA in the throats of healthy adults that matched the DNA of the algae virus, which wasn’t previously thought to be present in humans.
Out of 92 participants, the virus was found to be present in 40 individuals. Those who had the DNA performed worse in tests measuring “visual processing and visual motor speed”.
This means that nearly half of us could have the so-called “stupid virus”.
Scientists subsequently explored the effects of the virus in mice and found that it affected things like memory and altered the genetic make-up of the brain.
The study, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, concluded that “viruses in the environment not thought to infect humans can have biological effects”.
There you are now.
COMMENTS (35)