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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/gullydon on 2025-07-12 17:52:51+00:00.

Original Title: TIL if you are infected by a retrovirus, it can change your DNA, and you can pass these changes on to your descendants. By one estimate, 5-8% of the human genome comes from retroviruses. Most insertions have no known function and are often referred to as “junk DNA”.