[Margaret Linton]

Margaret Linton  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Hello,
� 
I could really use your help.

I need to know if you have either a human blood sample or a sample of say human skin, what tests you would perform to� find out if it contains parasitic DNA.

I do understand that there is no general test that would automatically tell you the type of parasite that might be present. But, since there are differences between human and parasitic DNA, there must be a way to tell if a specimen contains� parasitic DNA (of any kind), or not
� 
Thanks for your time.
� 
Margaret

What do you think?

[RD]

 

“Viral elements are a large part of the genetic material of almost all organisms,” said Dr. Sharp,
 who won a Nobel Prize for elucidating details of our genetic code.
 Base for nucleic base, he said, “we humans are well over 50 percent viral.”.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/science/08angi.html?_r=1&em&ex=1199941200&en=3bd96f63379d275d&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin