We all have consciousness, but explaining why and how our thoughts occur has always been a scientific mystery An ancient virus could be responsible for human consciousness, giving you the ability to think for yourself. New research has linked a human gene responsible for conscious thought to a virus that was spread in the early days of humanity. Two papers published in the Cell journal discuss the origins of the Arc gene, which packages up genetic information and sends it around nerve cells in little virus-style capsules. These packages of information are believed to be critical to how our nerves communicate and could be responsible for our thoughts. Elissa D. Pastuzyn, who authored one of the studies, said: "Evolutionary analysis indicates that Arc is derived from a vertebrate lineage of Ty3/gypsy retrotransposons, which are also ancestors to retroviruses." It's believed that between 40 percent and 80 percent of the human genome was developed thanks to