The “zombie viruses” are coming back to life after 50,000 years and the world is worried

The risk certainly increases under global warming, when the thawing of permafrost continues to accelerate.

Her temperature rises planet It poses many threats to life a land – From sea level rise to habitat destruction and extreme weather events. But scientists in Europe She points to a different concern – ancient “zombie viruses” frozen in time In the air with melting ice.

ancient microbes Existing in the permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere is at risk of liberating as the Earth warms a land.

To better understand microbes, a team of scientists led by a microbiologist Jean Marie Alambic From the French National Center for Scientific Research, several viruses have revived. Scientists took seven different samples of permafrost in Siberia, and found 13 frozen viruses, One of which they estimate dates back nearly 50,000 years.

By reviving viruses, scientists have assessed which family they belong to. The study concluded that most viruses isolated from ancient permafrost belong to the “proposed family” Pandoraviridae, which are double-stranded DNA viruses that infect amoebae.
Despite the importance of the scientific discovery, people online have been more wary of bringing back the potential “zombie virus”.