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What is proto virus??

a hypothetical sequence of chromosomal DNA in a somatic cell that can replicate by reverse transcription and give rise by mutation to an oncogenic virus (frequently attributive, especially in protovirus hypothesis, protovirus theory).
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A definition of the term "protovirus hypothesis" is presented. It refers to a biological theory proposed by Howard Martin Temin. According to the theory, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the source of new disease- causing viruses.
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A hypothetical primitive or ancestral virus.
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ncert
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proto virus is a DNA sequence which is capable of mutating into an oncogenic virus (tumours causing viruses) 
rgds !
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refer NCERT
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it assumed that there was one "proto-virus" that eventually evolved into all the viruses in the world today, or that different ones evolved from various bits of DNA that escaped their bacterial (or wherever) bodies? Pretty esoteric and quite possibly useless question, but it's been tickling me for a while and if anyone has any insight/other cool relevant info, chime in.
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