Rising sea levels, habitat destruction, and extreme weather are just a few of the challenges posed by global warming to live as we know it. However, researchers in Europe are raising another issue: as the ice melts, long-frozen “zombie viruses” are being unleashed into the atmosphere.
As the Earth warms due to global warming, ancient bacteria found in the permafrost of the Northern Hemisphere are at risk of being unleashed.
What is a ‘Zombie Virus’?
A group of researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, led by microbiologist Jean-Marie Alempic, have revived numerous viruses to better understand the germs.
Seven distinct samples were taken from the Siberian permafrost, and researchers discovered 13 frozen viruses there, one of which they think dates back nearly 50,000 years.
In a preliminary study, it is said that “this investigation supports the ability of big DNA viruses infecting Acanthamoeba to stay infectious after more than 48,500 years spent in deep permafrost.”
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The scientists determined which family the viruses belong to by reviving them. The majority of the viruses discovered from the ancient permafrost, according to the study, are double-stranded DNA viruses that infect amoebae and are members of the “proposed family” Pandoraviridae.
Despite how important the discovery is for science, there was more concern online about the possibility of a “zombie virus” returning. The study just serves as an update on “eukaryotic viruses recovered from ancient permafrost,” and further research will be required to learn more about the viruses.
The study notes that it is currently hard to predict how long these viruses might remain contagious after being exposed to outside circumstances (UV light, oxygen, heat), as well as how probable it will be that they will come into contact with and infect a compatible host during that time.
However, the risk will inevitably rise as a result of global warming as permafrost thawing continues to speed up and as more people move to the Arctic as a result of industrial endeavors.
