Researchers have discovered 13 ancient pathogens in permafrost in Siberia, and the viruses can infect amoebae cells following being resurrected by scientists. (Photo / @1NewsNZ twitter)
CNN reported on the 8th that researchers recently collected samples from the permafrost in Siberia and found 13 ancient pathogens, which are still infectious. The researchers called them “zombie viruses.” According to the researchers, it is now necessary to ensure that the permafrost remains frozen to prevent the virus from being released.
Permafrost provides the perfect conditions for viruses to survive to this day. In 1997, the body of a woman excavated in Alaska’s permafrost contained the 1918 flu strain. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union have been dumping radioactive and toxic substances into the Arctic since their nuclear tests in the 1950s. Today, many ancient viruses and radioactive substances are preserved in the permafrost layers.
Global warming has caused permafrost to melt, releasing methane and other greenhouse gases that have been stored underground in the past, exacerbating climate change. If the permafrost containing radioactive substances and ancient viruses melts, it may pose a threat to human beings.
According to a CNN report on the 8th, in order to better understand the risks of viruses contained in the permafrost layer, JeanMichel Claverie, an emeritus professor of medicine and genomics at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Aix-Marseille in France, led the team. The team took samples from permafrost in seven different regions of Siberia, and successfully revived the virus in the samples for the first time in 2014, naming it “zombie virus”.
According to soil radiocarbon dating, the oldest virus is regarding 48,500 years old. The research team found that the virus can infect amoebae cells. For safety reasons, no experiments on animals or human hosts have been performed on the virus.
Clavelli believes that the collected viruses are still infectious following such a long time, which means that there are still undiscovered viruses in other permafrost. “If the zombie virus is still alive, other viruses have no reason to die and are equally capable. infect their hosts”.
The researchers emphasized that when the permafrost that has been formed for a long time is melting, it is likely to release these unknown viruses and toxic substances. How big is yet to be clarified. The only certainty is that with the increase of global population and industrial development, the population living in the Arctic will increase and climate change will intensify. The melting of permafrost will inevitably pose a threat to human health .