Scientists Revive 'Zombie' Virus After 50,000 Years Trapped in Siberian Permafrost

[cbabe]

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/11/26/scientists-revive-zombie-virus-after-50000-years-trapped-siberian-permafrost

Scientists Revive ‘Zombie’ Virus After 50,000 Years Trapped in Siberian Permafrost

Researchers documented 13 never-before-seen viruses that have been lying dormant, frozen in thick ice, over tens of thousands of years.

COMMON DREAMS STAFF
November 26, 2022

As our world continues to warm up, vast areas of permafrost are rapidly melting, releasing material that's been trapped for up to a million years. This includes uncountable numbers of microbes that have been lying dormant for hundreds of millennia.

To study these emerging microbes, scientists from the French National Center for Scientific Research have now revived a number of these "zombie viruses" from the Siberian permafrost, including one thought to be nearly 50,000 years old – a record age for a frozen virus returning to a state capable of infecting other organisms.

The team behind the study, led by microbiologist Jean-Marie, says these ancient viruses are potentially a significant threat to public health, and further study needs to be done to assess the danger that these infectious agents could pose as the permafrost melts.

The researchers warned it may just be the tip of the iceberg:

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[LearnedHand]

1. What could possibly go wrong?

I swear, don't these people read the fiction or watch the films that play out this scenario??

(Sort of kidding, but not completely.)

[GreenWave]

2. If they can weaponize it, they will.

[3catwoman3]

3. Jurassic Park, anyone?