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I had wanted to be a clinical veterinarian for cows or horses, but I was attracted to viruses during my veterinary course, and now I am studying the replication mechanisms and evolution of RNA viruses, as well as co-evolution between the viruses and their hosts. Because viruses do not leave behind traces such as body fossils, the evolution and diversification history of RNA viruses are largely unknown. However, we recently discovered sequences derived from ancient RNA viruses in the genomes of many eukaryotes, namely molecular fossils of RNA viruses. By a combination of evolutionary analyses of the viral fossils and basic virological studies, I aim to understand the deep evolutionary history of RNA viruses.