LINE 1 can make Spike mRNA become part of the Human DNA

Addendum: Jan 24, 2023. Since this article’s release, the research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Why is this article relevant?

Knowing that the RNA of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can combine with human genes provides a deeper understanding of the COVID-19 disease.

How do we know that SARS-CoV-2 can combine with human genes?

A group from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge, Massachusetts, made a study called SARS-CoV-2 RNA reverse-transcribed and integrated into the human genome.

The authors wanted to know why people who had recovered from COVID-19 continued to test positive for the SARS-CoV-2 by PCR testing, although most are non-infectious. The authors arrived at the answer in three steps.

I. Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 genes in human genes.

They looked at several published papers for evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in a) cultured human cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 and b) body fluids like the lung fluid of COVID-19 patients.

Usually, only human gene sequences should be found in human samples. They noticed that some protein sequences are chimeric. Chimeric transcripts are two or more genes combined. This study found SAR-CoV-2 genes in human cells as well.

These chimeric transcripts confirmed that SARS-CoV-2 genes fused to human cellular sequences.

II. How do the SARS-CoV-2 genes get into human DNA?

The usual situation is that DNA is transcribed into RNA. RNA then translates its code to make protein. Thus DNA → RNA → Proteins.

However, there is a situation where RNA can become DNA. That is called reverse transcription.

Reverse transcriptase is the enzyme that can make DNA out of RNA. It is present in the long interspersed nuclear element-1 or LINE1 of human cells and retroviruses like the HIV and HTLV viruses.

The investigators manipulated human cultured cells and induced the genes that produce reverse transcriptase.

They found that if reverse transcriptase is induced in LINE1 of the human cells in the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the viral RNA becomes transcribed into DNA and combines with the human DNA.

What are the conditions needed to activate LINE1 to make Reverse transcriptase?

There are two ways that they discovered by experimentation. First the presence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the second is cytokine exposure.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of COVID-19, is enough to induce reverse transcriptase formation in human cells.

Genes produce enzymes like reverse transcriptase and depend on cytokines for signaling.

Cytokines are signaling proteins made by other cells that carry messages sent from one cell to another. Once the LINE1 gets the cytokine signal, it starts producing reverse transcriptase.

In summary, COVID-19 and cytokines increase reverse transcriptase. Reverse transcriptase forms DNA out of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.

The resulting DNA from the virus then combines with the human DNA. The chimeric human DNA can now produce new proteins.

What are the consequences of SARS-CoV-2 RNA combining with human DNA?

The good news is that more copies of viral proteins elicit a better immune response to fight infections. This has benefited humankind in surviving infections.

The bad news is that copies of the SARS-CoV-2 that are now made by human cells can:

Produce false-positive test when being tested for SARS-CoV-2. Thus requiring unnecessarily extended quarantines or even lockdowns.
When someone has COVID-19, and the body continues to make copies of the viral protein, it can promote a hyperimmune response or a cytokine storm. More antigens in viral proteins made endogenously elicit an inappropriate overwhelming immune response. An example will be Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and multi-system organ failure.
If the viral proteins are similar to human proteins, the immune response can attack the host and lead to autoimmune diseases.

Can these findings apply to COVID vaccination?

We don’t know for sure because no studies have been done. The investigators found that the SARS-CoV-2 RNA that was reverse transcribed chiefly came from the virus’s nucleocapsid or center, and that’s because the nucleus has the most RNA.

The COVID vaccines presently available in the US contain RNA only from the spike proteins, not the nucleus.

However, RNA is an RNA, and the body may not distinguish between the two. Thus, viral genomes from COVID vaccines with modified RNA may change human DNA, especially if plentiful cytokines.

What can I do to prevent SARS-CoV-2 from changing my DNA?

Boost your immune system so that SARS-CoV-2 can be stopped and will not multiply in your body.

Don’t smoke, and don’t abuse alcohol. Engage in moderate exercises.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines are plentiful in common chronic illnesses like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.

Losing weight and controlling blood sugar and blood pressure with diet and exercise help decrease free radicals and cytokine formation and prevent future diseases.

Knowledge about Covid-19 is rapidly evolving. Information may update as new studies are made. Stay current by subscribing. Feel free to share.

Don’t Get Sick!

Related readings:

Reference:

Zhang L, Richards A, Khalil A, Wogram E, Ma H, Young RA, Jaenisch R. SARS-CoV-2 RNA reverse-transcribed and integrated into the human genome. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2020 Dec 13:2020.12.12.422516. Doi: 10.1101/2020.12.12.422516. PMID: 33330870; PMCID: PMC7743078.

Zhang L, Richards A, Barrasa MI, Hughes SH, Young RA, Jaenisch R. Reverse-transcribed SARS-CoV-2 RNA can integrate into the genome of cultured human cells and can be expressed in patient-derived tissues. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 May 25;118(21):e2105968118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2105968118. PMID: 33958444; PMCID: PMC8166107.

Image credit: By CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM – https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=23312.

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