On November 30, scientists in Moscow brought back a zombie virus that had been buried under a frozen lake in the country for 48,500 years. According to the New York Post, the researchers provoked fear in the population with the possibility of a new pandemic after the revival of this strain. Learn more about this news.
Read more: Should we be afraid? Virus frozen 48,500 years ago returns to life in Siberia
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Global warming is thawing huge swaths of "permanently frozen" land covering the northern hemisphere. This event has generated disturbing effects by releasing organic materials such as germs, cellular microbes and viruses that have been inactive since prehistoric times.
The situation could become even more disastrous if the resurgence of these microscopic beings causes deadly diseases for today's world population. Are you ready to experience something like this again?
Zombie virus news
According to the New York Post, scientists revived some "zombie viruses" to investigate creatures that awaken from permafrost, that is, from the frozen ground. The oldest of these, Pandoravirus redoma, was 48,500 years old, breaking the record for a 30,000-year-old virus identified in Siberia in 2013 by the same researchers.
Science Alert said the new strain is among the 13 viruses in the study and that each of them has its own genome and the potential to be infectious, posing a danger to the health of society. Therefore, it is believed that pandemics such as Covid-19 will become frequent, since the melting of permafrost releases long-dormant viruses with harmful potential.
The scientists said it is legitimate to ponder the risks of ancient viral particles re-entering the circulation through melting old layers of soil. According to them, unfortunately these discoveries may be just the tip of the epidemiological iceberg, as there are still more hibernating viruses to be discovered in the coming years.
Another point of great concern refers to the vicious cycle, as the organic matter released by the melting ice decomposes into carbon dioxide and methane, increasing the greenhouse effect and melting. Thus, more research is needed to assess the level of infectivity of unknown viruses when exposed to all environmental variables such as light, heat and oxygen.