Check out this BBC science news story from yesterday:
30,000-year-old giant virus 'comes back to life'
By Rebecca Morelle - Science reporter, BBC World Service
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26387276
An ancient virus has "come back to life" after lying dormant for at least 30,000 years, scientists say.
It was found frozen in a deep layer of the Siberian permafrost, but after it thawed it became infectious once again.
The French scientists say the contagion poses no danger to humans or animals, but other viruses could be unleashed as the ground becomes exposed.
The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Professor Jean-Michel Claverie, from the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) at the University of Aix-Marseille in France
Biggest virus
... discovered buried 30m (100ft) down in the frozen ground.
Called Pithovirus sibericum, it belongs to a class of giant viruses that were discovered 10 years ago.
Pithovirus sibericum
The virus infects amoebas but does not attack human or animal cells
...
... 1.5 micrometres in length, is the biggest ...
The last time it infected anything was more than 30,000 years ago, but in the laboratory it has sprung to life once again. ...
Interesting stuff. At least 99.9% of the worlds viruses are not dangerous to humans though so I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. I doubt many viruses trapped in 30,000 year old permafrost are adapted to human physiology. After all, how many humans were living in the arctic tundra at that time
It is curious though that a virus that’s been in deep freeze for the past 30,000
Is thawed and squishy these days, don’t cha think?
Jezz, I wonder if Anthropogentic Global Warming might possibly have a little something to do with it. :-S
<strong>And beyond that, OK, I'm no biologist, but a virus 1.5mm, crazy man.
<em><span style="color:red">Yea right, long over due correction, though my error was acknowledged in following comments :-/ </span></em>
<blockquote><strong>1.5 micrometres is not 1.5 mm:</strong></blockquote></strong>
Biggest virus
... 1.5 micrometres in length, is the biggest ...
1.5 micrometres is not 1.5 mm: then you would be able to see it with the naked eye... No idea how such a huge thing could attack single cell organisms that are smaller than itself.
1.5 micrometres ]is 1.5 µm.
You're being imprecise recently, citizenschallenge ;-).
Biggest virus
... 1.5 micrometres in length, is the biggest ...
1.5 micrometres is not 1.5 mm: then you would be able to see it with the naked eye... No idea how such a huge thing could attack single cell organisms that are smaller than itself.
1.5 micrometres ]is 1.5 µm.
You're being imprecise recently, citizenschallenge ;-).
ah yup, that's what I'd call imprecise! :grrr:
Typing that I was even thinking, jeepers at 1.5mm, that's almost getting close enough to being able to see with the naked eye.
Thanks for that little reality check. Man I should stop trying to read without my reading specs on. :red:
The resurrected virus attacks amoebas. Amoebas are at the base of food chains (or food webs). Some amoebas have positive effects, some have harmful effects. I imagine it would be difficult, even for eco-biologists, to predict the possible impacts, were the ancient virus to aggressively spread.
Microbes on ice: Climate amplifiers?
by Dr Joseph Cook on December 9th, 2013
http://climatica.org.uk/microbes-ice-climate-amplifiers
Lifeless ice?
At first glance, the cryosphere – including all frozen water on Earth – appears to comprise vast, cold expanses devoid of biology. However, even the most remote, hostile and unlikely icy locations in both hemispheres have been found to harbour diverse and active microbial life. It is hard to imagine ice offering many viable places for microbes to exploit; but liquid water and energy sources exist beneath, within, and especially on the surfaces of glaciers and ice sheets. Research has shown us that not only are ice-dwelling microbial communities crucial stores of biodiversity, they might be important amplifiers of global climate change.
Considering I'm fascination with the story of hwo ancient microbes interacted with basic elements, to help create most of the minerals we know of today.
So here we have, apparently, all sort of dormant advanced microbial life ready to inhabit a warmer biosphere -
Reminds me of my avatar,
Within the climax of every event, lies it's own destruction, which possesses the seeds of it's own rebirth.
But, it won't be We The People chronicling the next chapter in Earth's pageant of creation.
Melting Glaciers Liberate Ancient Microbes
The release of life-forms in cold storage for eons raises new concerns about the impacts of climate change
Apr 18, 2012 |By Cheryl Katz and Daily Climate
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/melting-glaciers-liberate-ancient-microbes/
Editor's Note: This article is an extended version of "Bugs in the Ice Sheet" from the May 2012 Issue of Scientific American.
BOZEMAN, Mont.—Locked in frozen vaults on Antarctica and Greenland, a lost world of ancient creatures awaits another chance at life. Like a time-capsule from the distant past, the polar ice sheets offer a glimpse of tiny organisms that may have been trapped there longer than modern humans have walked the planet, biding their time until conditions change and set them free again.
