Development

A smallpox relative reportedly acquired a human gene

development2026-10-05biotechhypothesis

Claim

The newsletter reports research suggesting a smallpox-related virus acquired the human BC200 gene about 100,000 years ago and may use it in human infection.

Reported metric: about 100,000 years ago

Reporting date: 2026-10-05 (not necessarily the event date)

Sources

Attribution and reporting linked by this record; links do not imply independent verification.

Welcome to October 5, 2026 (theinnermostloop.substack.com)
Source linked by the October 5 issue (www.nytimes.com)

Indexed from Dr. Alex Wissner-Gross’s October 5, 2026 newsletter. Linked-source claims have not been independently verified.

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Reported in

Welcome to October 5, 2026

Referenced by

Welcome to October 5, 2026

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Citation formatCitation text

A smallpox relative reportedly acquired a human gene
Innermost Loop KB — secondary record
Reporting date: 2026-10-05
KB permalink: https://nicholsn.github.io/innermost-loop-kb/developments/2026-10-05-viral-gene
Claim: The newsletter reports research suggesting a smallpox-related virus acquired the human BC200 gene about 100,000 years ago and may use it in human infection.
Attributed sources:
- Welcome to October 5, 2026 — https://theinnermostloop.substack.com/p/welcome-to-october-5-2026
- Source linked by the October 5 issue — https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/science/virus-molluscum-human-gene.html
This citation does not imply independent verification of linked-source claims.

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