The prehistoric virus that was recently revived in a laboratory does not “zombify” its hosts or threaten to unleash a new pandemicalthough this is indicated by users on social networks.
The term was misinterpreted by various profiles on Twitter, TikTok and Facebookwho associated the experiment with science fiction ideas and revived theories of a “new pandemic” or even an “apocalypse”.
In this sense, it is worth mentioning that the study shows that European scientists did revive several prehistoric viruses, but this has nothing to do with an apocalyptic scenario.
They are called “zombies” because they “resurrect” after thousands of years frozen in the ground, but they do not infect humans but amoebas and the experiment was carried out in a controlled environment.
The investigation, taken out of context on social networks, was disclosed in February of this year in the magazine “Viruses«, a peer-reviewed publication to which some virology societies are affiliated, such as the United States, Spain or Canada.
Most of the scientists from the University of Aix-Marseille (France) participated in this study, but also others attached to German and Russian institutes.
The document states that a technical team managed to make ancestral viruses infectious again after being inactive in the permafrost.a layer of soil that remains frozen in the coldest regions of the planet.
This had a purpose linked to the study of climate changesince the researchers warned that the permafrost thaw can release microorganisms capable of returning to life and eventually becoming a danger to public health.
They do not affect humans
It is worth noting that, These viruses that were managed to reactivate in the study only infect amoebas, Contrary to speculation on social media.
Specific, the procedure managed to “make sick” species of “Acanthamoeba spp”, a microscopic, single-celled organism.
The scientists argue within the study that it was conceived in this way to protect “from accidental infection” laboratory workers and thus prevent the spread of an unknown disease.
«Viruses have a tropism, that is, a specificity towards the type of cells and the type of organisms that they can infect.Flor Pujol, a virologist and member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences, explained to EFE Verifica.
For that reason, not all viruses can affect humans. Some, for example, act exclusively on bacteria, plants, or animals, and it is considered quite unusual for them to switch hosts.
«To enter a cell they need to interact with a receptor, which is the virus key that enters the lock on the door of a specific cell.“adds Pujol metaphorically.
The research report maintains that the results with amoebas «they can be extrapolated to many other DNA viruses capable of infecting humans or animals.’
This is one of the main warnings of scientists. However, they clarify that «it is still impossible to estimate how long these viruses could remain infectious once exposed to outdoor conditions.” such as ultraviolet light, oxygen or heat.
It is worth remembering that this is not the first time that a virus has been revived, since in 2013 and 2014 researchers from the same group revived prehistoric viruses, as can be seen in an article in the scientific journal PNAS, the official publication of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.
In that same magazine it is stated that Russian scientists, more than 10 years ago, also revived a plant from tissue found in the permafrost.
What are the risks?
The study posits that it islegitimate to reflect on the risk that old viral particles continue to be infectious» and argues, among other things, why there is no universal treatment to treat viruses.
One of the researchers on the project, Jean-Michel Claverie, wrote in an article that “fortunately» very few people lived until now in the inhospitable places where the permafrost is thawing, making it “very unlikely” that an encounter between a virus and the host will occur.
«A risk is always the combination of danger and exposure“Claverie mentions.
Also Catherine Dieleman, biologist specializing in permafrost and professor at the University of Guelph (Canada), told EFE Verifica that although “it can make our imagination run wild to think about the impact of frozen microbes«, it must be remembered that not only ancient microbial life is unknown, but also current “it is minimally characterized«.
In relation to that, In 2020, the UN published an entry on its website about experts who warned that 1.7 million viruses are currently “undiscovered” they live on mammals and birds, “of which up to 850,000 could have the ability to infect humans.”
For his part, the Swiss scientist Beat Frey, a permafrost scholar, consulted by EFE Verifica, said: “I am not so convinced that ancient viruses are capable of infecting humans.
Can any virus cause a pandemic?
Virologist Flor Pujol indicated no. «Some viruses have a greater potential to generate a pandemic due to their mechanism, their transmission abilities and the possibilities that the person becomes infected.
What determines the potential of a virus to become a pandemic is the level of exposure that human beings have to it, explained the Colombian infectologist Jorge Cortés Luna.
In the case of a new virus, the doctor pointed out, it is true that the threat grows because humans do not have an immune response. However, there are other factors to take into account such as transmissibility.
«The more transmissible the virus is, the more efficient it is«, he argues.
In any case, Cortés Luna stressed that «It would be necessary to know how much the prehistoric virus resembles a current virus ».
*With information from EFE*
