Retroviral invasion of the koala genome

What is it about?

This work describes the discovery that the koala retrovirus (KoRV) is endogenous (in the genome and inherited) in some koalas but not in others. It also apparently has an infectious form that causes diseases in koalas. Endogenisation (entry of a virus into a host genome) is a fundamental biological process but difficult to observe in real life as it takes place over generational timespans. KoRV gives us the opportunity to study this process

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Why is it important?

This is my most quoted paper. It really is exciting being able to catch a fundamental biological process - like the entry of a new class of retrovirus into a hosts genome "in the act" and see what effects this has on both the host and the virus as they both adjust