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The zombie virus that was trapped for 48,500 years in the Arctic’s permafrost has been revived by scientists and now researchers are trying to assess its effects on human life.
According to climate scientists, warmer temperatures are causing the region’s permafrost to thaw or melt. If the thaw continues, different frozen viruses that have been trapped for thousands of years could revive and possibly pose a threat to humans and animals.
What is permafrost?
Permafrost is basically any type of ground that has been continuously frozen for a minimum of two years and as many as thousands of years. It can extend beneath the earth’s surface i.e., from a few feet to more than a mile.
Permafrost covers a fifth of the Northern Hemisphere, including the Arctic tundra and boreal forests of Canada, Russia, and Alaska. It is also considered a time capsule as it preserves the mummified remains of various extinct animals.
In recent years, scientists have already unearthed two cave lion cubs and a wooly rhino from the permafrost.
What is the new study of the zombie virus all about?
In the latest study published in February in the Journal Viruses, French scientist Jean-Michel Claverie claimed that his team tested different samples of earth found in the permafrost to determine whether any particles were infectious. They isolated different strains of ancient viruses from several samples of permafrost taken from seven locations across Siberia.
According to Claverie, the strains represented five new families of viruses. The oldest was 48,500 years old and the youngest found in the coat and stomach contents of a wooly mammoth’s remains were 27,000 years old.
In an interview with CNN, Jean-Michel Claverie said:
"We view these amoeba-infecting viruses as surrogates for all others that might be in the permafrost. We see the traces of many, many, many other microbes. So, we know they are there but we don’t know for sure that they are still alive."
"But our reasoning is that if the amoeba pathogens are still alive, there is no reason why the other viruses will not be still alive, and capable of infecting their own hosts," he continued.
What happens if the permafrost melts?
According to NASA climate scientists, warmer temperatures in the Arctic have already started thawing the region’s permafrost, and if it continues to thaw significantly, the results could be fatal.
This could cause microbes that have been entombed in frozen soil for thousands of years to begin releasing harmful gases. In fact, some permafrost regions have already started releasing more carbon than they are absorbing.
Not only this, but radioactive and chemical waste from Cold Wartime may also be released during permafrost thaws and further endanger the entire ecosystem.
Scientists have warned that the potential risks of melting permafrost, though low, can be catastrophic and it is likely that unknown gases and bacteria will revive as the permafrost melts.
As per scientists, how long these can remain contagious once released and how likely they’ll infect a host is yet impossible to assess. But the danger continues as global warming increases day by day, causing permafrost to thaw.
