Retroviruses have been infecting animals for at least 100 million years leaving remnants in their hosts’ genomes known as Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs). This has resulted into ERVs comprising a significant amount of hosts' genomes. We are interested to understand which factors have affected their abundance within genomes as well as their ability to move between hosts.

As ERVs colonised their hosts' genomes they were subject to an evolutionary trade-off. The intersection of parasite-host co-evolutionary dynamics and the Red Queen race describe parts of this phenomenon. We are interested into which host factors were subject to this evolutionary "Quid-Pro-Quo" as they are likely to be related with antiviral defence and cancer resistance. Animal genome projects provide an invaluable source of primary data for research.