Can viruses transfer genetic material between individuals ?

From: Rod Burns (morrainx_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 01/22/05 

Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 13:01:48 -0500 (EST)

I read two years ago during the SRAS period, by a japanese scientists, that
one of the theories about the origin of viruses was that they were *emitted*
by more evolved living beings that would spread their genetic material in
the form of DNA chains that would group and form viruses.
Is this still up to date ?

Then, the article also mentionned that some viruses were apt to transfer
genetic material between individuals, either from the same species, ot from
one species to another.
Is this possible ?

Does this mean that anyone's genetic code could be modified by viruses, not
only locally (so as to cause cancer etc.) but also as a whole, so as to
cause a mutation passed on to the next generation ?

The article also mentionned, regarding SRAS, that among all the infected
persons, some were *superspreaders*, i.e. persons that would spread around a
far higher amount of virus than the average.
Likewise, are there species where the individuals spread better their
genetic material (as suggested in the first paragraph on possible viruses
origins) than in other species ? Or in some species, has it been observed
that some individuals can spread their genetic material more than other
individuals ?

I wondered if this could be a mechanism for genetic evolution, and for
competition between species.

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