As this chimerism increases, it occasionally integrates genes from microbes that live within the human body – as happens when a human is infected by herpesvirus 6. Once integrated in a person’s genome, these genes can be transmitted from parent to child – making microbial genes their “grandfathers.”
人类细胞中包含有来自于真核细胞，细菌，古生菌和病毒的基因。随着这种嵌合现象（chimerism）不断增加，它也偶尔会把生活在人体内的微生物基因整合进来——正如人感染疱疹病毒。一旦整合进了人的基因组中，这些基因就可以由父母传播给儿童——使微生物基因成为了这些孩子的“教父”。