Scientists have revived a 'zombie' virus that spent 48,500 years frozen in permafrost

[Nevilledog]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/world/permafrost-virus-risk-climate-scn/index.html


CNN
—
Warmer temperatures in the Arctic are thawing the region’s permafrost — a frozen layer of soil beneath the ground — and potentially stirring viruses that, after lying dormant for tens of thousands of years, could endanger animal and human health.

While a pandemic unleashed by a disease from the distant past sounds like the plot of a sci-fi movie, scientists warn that the risks, though low, are underappreciated. Chemical and radioactive waste that dates back to the Cold War, which has the potential to harm wildlife and disrupt ecosystems, may also be released during thaws.

“There’s a lot going on with the permafrost that is of concern, and (it) really shows why it’s super important that we keep as much of the permafrost frozen as possible,” said Kimberley Miner, a climate scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.

Permafrost covers a fifth of the Northern Hemisphere, having underpinned the Arctic tundra and boreal forests of Alaska, Canada and Russia for millennia. It serves as a kind of time capsule, preserving — in addition to ancient viruses — the mummified remains of a number of extinct animals that scientist have been able to unearth and study in recent years, including two cave lion cubs and a woolly rhino.

*snip*

Leave. The. Zombie. Virus. Alone!

[Ray Bruns]

1. Did the possibility of the virus and the extinct animals showing up in same level

of permafrost might have clued in the scientists that the two may have been related?

[SWBTATTReg]

2. I don't exactly condone this sort of thing, being that these long dormant viruses, could run

rampart across populations that no longer have immunity to these dormant viruses. If we're lucky, our genetic code already has some sort of genetic resistance to these long dormant viruses.

[EarthFirst]

3. FFS! Leave it there!

I understand the importance of the research behind this find; but please…

No!

[chowder66]

6. Maybe I'm thinking about this in the wrong way but....

Wouldn't it be better that they investigate this under controlled conditions to create potential vaccines instead of waiting for a catastrophe to happen?

[EarthFirst]

8. I tend to agree with you...

I was more or less offering up a snarky response.

There are certainly potential beneficial research opportunities; if anything perhaps it increases the awareness of climate change…

[chowder66]

9. It was my first reaction as well!

[Baitball Blogger]

10. Whoever is financing them is probably hoping to get the next bioweapon.

[GGoss]

7. The Viruses And Gases Will All Be Released As The Permafrost Melts, Global Warming

From 5 years ago:

[Delphinus]

13. I wish

they would go back now and do an update.

And, really, Gail hadn't heard the word permafrost before? I don't watch shows like this - is it just conversation starter?

[Model35mech]

15. Yes, they'll likely enter the active environment regardless of humans

As has been seen across the arctice, but most dramatically in Siberia, methane pockets collapse, potentially making huge holes that and quickly erode and expose underlying layers of earth.

Water running over permafrost will also cut into it and also disseminate whatever is in the soil.

Back in the early 2000's I had Russian friends that were very interested in collecting tissues and eggs from parasite from frozen ice age animals. They were interested in genetic analysis that took place over the last 10-12 thousand years.

[Effete Snob]

4. Great News!

This is fantastic news for lovers of, uh, 48,500 year old viruses.

[inthewind21]

5. V Wars

Netflix series.

"V Wars follows the story of the physician/scientist Dr. Luther Swann, and his best friend Michael Fayne, as they face the evolving crisis of a deadly outbreak that fractures society into opposing factions, potentially escalating to a future war between humans and vampires.[3] The outbreak is caused by an ancient biological infectious agent, a prion, that turns humans into vampires,[4] released from ice by climate change.[5]

[JanMichael]

14. That was a decent series. Only one though.

[Scrivener7]

11. What could go wrong?

[Peacetrain]

12. Just because you can do something does not mean you should!! Oh for the love of God