We've since described retrotransposons that, while interesting, have both pathogenic and non-pathogenic purposes.
The term "junk DNA" in this article dates it; we've since found that this junk DNA is full of transposons, retrotransposons, miRNA, siRNA etc..., which is to say they are a great deal more interesting than the "junk" we once thought them to be.
The implication in Schizophrenia isn't something I've heard about, but this article is more of a description of how retrotransposons were discovered than anything to do with schizophrenia, although that's just hind-sight.
Hmmm, well, per Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERVWE1), it's a virus you might say we grabbed and re-purposed. In mice, there's "evidence for their absolute requirement for placenta development and embryo survival." And a couple of other genes of the original virus have been zapped. Call it a hack.
And I can't see anyone being that surprised that "Mutations in the HERV-W gene have been associated with multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia." If you mess with essential stuff, bad things can certainly happen. Although it could easily be somewhat more complicated, "correlation does not imply causation".
I guess I'm trying to say that where we got the genetic material from is more in the direction of a curiosity than something profound.
>>And I can't see anyone being that surprised that "Mutations in the HERV-W gene have been associated with multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia." If you mess with essential stuff, bad things can certainly happen.
This is a poor line of reasoning in biology where almost everything could be considered essential. As we understanding, the real question is if this can be used to find a mechanism or if elevated W type proteins can be used as an early detection scheme.
It appears GeNuero has found 47 million dollars from investment partner, Servier, and "GNbAC1 has successfully completed Phase IIa, demonstrating an optimal safety profile and encouraging signs of efficacy on a first small cohort of patients." http://www.geneuro.com/en/news.php#news
