Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 16 pp 15978—15994
A human MMTV-like betaretrovirus linked to breast cancer has been present in humans at least since the copper age
Figure 1. Geographic areas of origin of the 36 skulls objects of the study. Red dots indicate the four sites where the six cases positive for MMTVenv-like sequences were identified: two in Ossi, Sardinia; two in Alghero, Sardinia; one in Luni, Liguria; one in Lucca, Tuscany. In four cases, the sequencing of both ENV1 and ENV 2 amplicons was accomplished; one of the ENV1 amplicons showed a C > T polymorphism, that did not cause an amino acid substitution: Ossi (ENV2), Luni (ENV1-C), Alghero (ENV1-C, ENV1-T). The two cases that dated back to the Copper Age came from Ossi, Sardinia.