Scientists Revive 'Zombie' Virus Which Spent 48,500 Years Frozen In Arctic

Scientists for years have been warning about the dangers posed by viruses buried under ice caps in the Arctic and other places. Dubbed 'zombie viruses', they have the potential to unleash deadly strain of the disease that the present population is not equipped to handle. The threat has increased since rising temperatures due to global warming started melting the frozen ice. To better understand the risks associated with these 'Zombie viruses', a French scientist revived some of them from samples taken from Siberian permafrost, as per a report in Euro News. These viruses have spent thousands of years frozen in the ground.

It is to be noted that a fifth of the Northern Hemisphere is covered in permafrost, which has long supported the Arctic tundra and boreal forests of Alaska, Canada and Russia. Together with ancient viruses, it acts as a kind of time capsule, preserving the mummified remains of several extinct creatures.

By reviving these bacteria and viruses, researchers are attempting to determine how much of a threat they may be to mankind. A study about the discovery has been published in the journal Viruses in which the researchers stated, "Fortunately, we can reasonably hope that an epidemic caused by a revived prehistoric pathogenic bacterium could be quickly controlled by the modern antibiotics at our disposal even though bacteria carrying antibiotic-resistance genes appear to be surprisingly prevalent in permafrost."

They warned that the situation would be "much much more disastrous in the case of plant, animal, or human diseases caused by the revival of an ancient unknown virus" since there is no specific treatment or vaccine available currently.

Anthrax outbreaks in reindeer have already been connected to the melting of Siberia's permafrost because the region's unusually hot summers prompted old anthrax spores from animal graveyards to reappear, as per the outlet. 

In this latest study, French researcher Jean-Michel Claverie and his team reported that they had isolated and revived several ancient viruses from permafrost, including a giant virus strain (Pithovirus) discovered in a sample containing a lot of mammoth wool.

"This study confirms the capacity of large DNA viruses infecting Acanthamoeba to remain infectious after more than 48,500 years spent in deep permafrost," the authors wrote in the study. Mr Claverie and his team have been concentrating on recovering ancient viruses that affect only single-celled amoebae. "Without the need to embark on such a risky project, we believe our results with Acanthamoeba-infecting viruses can be extrapolated to many other DNA viruses capable of infecting humans or animals," they added.

The scientists also issued a warning that the melting of the permafrost may result in the unleashing of some unknown pathogens. "How long these viruses could remain infectious once exposed to outdoor conditions (UV light, oxygen, heat), and how likely they will be to encounter and infect a suitable host in the interval, is yet impossible to estimate. But the risk is bound to increase in the context of global warming, in which permafrost thawing will keep accelerating, and more people will populate the Arctic in the wake of industrial ventures," they noted.