Page 27 - Dr Stephanie Seneff - Reviewing Some Possible Unintended Consequences of the mRNA Vaccines Against COVID - 19

intermediate, while possibly introducing genetic alterations in the process (Pray, 2008).
Retrotransposons, also known as “jumping genes,” were first identified by the geneticist Barbara
McClintock of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, over 50 years ago (McClintock, 1965).
Much later, in 1983, she was recognized with a Nobel prize for this work.

Remarkably, retrotransposons seem to be able to expand their domain from generation to
generation. LINEs and SINEs collaborate to invade new genomic sites through translation of their
DNA to RNA and back to a fresh copy of DNA, which is then inserted at an AT-rich region of the
genome. These LINEs and SINEs had long been considered to be “junk” DNA, an absurd idea that
has now been dispelled, as awareness of their critical functions has grown. In particular, it has now
become clear that they can also import RNA from an exogenous source into a mammalian host’s
DNA. Retroviral-like repeat elements found in the mouse genome called intracisternal A particles
(IAPs) have been shown to be capable of incorporating viral RNA into the mouse genome.
Recombination between an exogenous nonretroviral RNA virus and an IAP retrotansposon resulted
in reverse transcription of the viral RNA and integration into the host's genome (Geuking et al.,
2009).
Furthermore, as we shall see later, the mRNA in the new SARS-CoV-2 vaccines could also get
passed on from generation to generation, with the help of LINEs expressed in sperm, via non-
integrated cDNA encapsulated in plasmids. The implications of this predictable phenomenon are
unclear, but potentially far-reaching.

1. Exogenous and Endogenous Retroviruses
There is also a concern that the RNA in the mRNA vaccines could be transferred into the human
genome with assistance from retroviruses. Retroviruses are a class of viruses that maintain their
genomic information in the form of RNA, but that possess the enzymes needed to reverse
transcribe their RNA into DNA and insert it into a host genome. They then rely on existing natural
tools from the host to produce copies of the virus through translation of DNA back into RNA and
to produce the proteins that the viral RNA codes for and assemble them into a fresh viral particle
(Lesbats et al., 2016).

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are benign sections in the DNA of humans that closely
resemble retroviruses, and that are believed to have become permanent sequences in the human
genome through a process of integration from what was originally an exogenous retrovirus.
Endogenous retroviruses are abundant in all jawed vertebrates and are estimated to occupy 5-8% of
the human genome. The protein syncytin, which has become essential for placental fusion with the
uterine wall and for the fusion step between the sperm and the egg at fertilization, is a good example
of an endogenous retroviral protein. Syncytin is the envelope gene of a recently identified human
endogenous defective retrovirus, HERV-W (Mi et al., 2000). During gestation, the fetus expresses
high levels of another endogenous retrovirus, HERV-R, and it appears to protect the fetus from
immune attack from the mother (Luganini and Gribaudo, 2020). Endogenous retroviral elements
closely resemble retrotransposons. Their reverse transcriptase, when expressed, has the theoretical
capability to convert spike protein RNA from the mRNA vaccines into DNA.

International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research 2(1), May 10, 2021 Page | 415