Hervotype

Hervotype is a specific sequence of a particular human endogenous retroviral (HERV) insertion. Hervotyping, like genotyping, is the process of determining the specific sequence of a particular HERV. With more research on HERV, it is now known that HERV may not be monomorphic and a HERV insertion may be present in various alleles. Therefore, it is important to know the hervotype of a HERV insertion as the sequences can give more information on their ages. It is now believed that it is not enough to say whether a HERV is present or present in full form but hervotypes are essential in evaluating their relationship to human disease and to know their true contribution in evolution of humans.