Ice Age Virus

 

The chances of "frozen viruses" reactivating is possible thanks to climate change, according to experts. 

Frank Cezus—Getty Images

French scientists are celebrating after successfully revitalizing an ancient virus that had been lying dormant for 30,000 years in Siberian permafrost, according to the BBC.

Measuring 1.5 micrometers in length, the Pithovirus sibericum strain is the largest virus to ever be discovered. The virus, Pithovirus sibericum, was found in a 30-meter-deep sample of permanently frozen soil taken from coastal tundra in Chukotka, near the East Siberia Sea, where the average annual temperature is -13.4 degrees Celsius.

Radiocarbon dating of the soil sample found that vegetation grew there more than 30,000 years ago, a time when mammoths and Neanderthals walked the Earth. 

“This is the first time we’ve seen a virus that’s still infectious after this length of time,” said Professor Jean-Michel Claverie, from the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) at the University of Aix-Marseille in France.

Researchers say the contagion does not pose a danger to humans or animals; rather, it specializes in attacking single-cell amoebas.

“It comes into the cell, multiplies and finally kills the cell. It is able to kill the amoeba — but it won’t infect a human cell,” said CNRS’s Dr. Chantal Abergel.

However, experts admit other potentially harmful viruses could reactivate and spread if more frozen ground becomes exposed from increasing global temperatures.

 

Microscopic view of Pithovirus sibericum.

Image via Matthieu Legendre

References

1. Stout, D. 2014, March 4. Virus Resurrected After Chilling in Siberia for 30,000 years. Retrieved from http://time.com/#12047/virus-resurrected-after-chilling-in-siberia-for-30000-years/.

2. Penfold, V. 2014, March 18. Scientists Wake Virus After 30,000 Year Slumber. Retrieved from http://www.cankler.com.au/tag/pithovirus-sibericum/.