That's really cool. I've never heard of horizontal genre transfer before. I'm curious how common it is
this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2023
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It's usually mediated by viruses. A virus infects an organism, picks up some host genetic material, and later jumps to a different host. At some point, the viral DNA is incorporated into the host genome and stays there, bringing the DNA from the previous host with it. This is how mammals got placentas. About 8% of the human genome is made of viruses that got stuck there
It happens in higher lifeforms. Among bacteria and the like it's extremely common.