Passing viruses on directly through our DNA

Researchers have detected the virus that causes roseola in the DNA of newborns, suggesting that the disease may be passed from parents to their children via this mechanism:

Researchers found that most babies infected with the HHV-6 virus, which causes roseola, had the virus integrated into their chromosomes. Not only that, but either the father or mother also had the virus in the chromosomes, suggesting it was a germline transmission – passed on in egg or sperm.

"This is really a unique mechanism for congenital infections," said Caroline Breese Hall, a pediatrician at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York who led the study.

Her team is now investigating what this means for the children.

"If you have a chromosome that has got a virus integrated into it, what does it mean? What does it do? Can it activate again? Can it start spewing out virus and cause problems? Can you get an immune response to it?" Hall said.