American researchers have captured viruses trapped in ice for more than 15,000 years at an altitude of more than 6,000 meters on the Tibetan plateau. Of the 33 identified, 28 were previously unknown. These are microbes from plants or the soil, they do not come from animals or humans. They therefore contain secrets about the ecosystems of that time. For scientists, the challenge is therefore to determine the climatic conditions of prehistoric times but also to understand how bacteria and viruses evolve with climate change.
Will warming reactivate viruses trapped in ice? This is a real concern for the Russian laboratory Vektor. He announced a few months ago the launch of a virus research project on prehistoric animals, mammoths, horses and rodents found in Siberia. The objective is to assess the risks associated with new epidemics.
French scientists also went to Siberia in search of prehistoric viruses. They discovered giant viruses that are 30,000 years old. Viruses that are larger than normal, they are visible under a light microscope. There was the mimivirus in 2003, then the pithovirus and the pandoravirus in 2014, buried more than 30 meters deep. Three families discovered in ten years.
Laboratory analyzes concluded that there was no risk of human cell infection, but scientists warned other pathogenic viruses could one day reappear. Example: the smallpox virus which could still exist in the depths of the earth. For the CNRS, this is not science fiction. Frozen soils, such as Siberian permafrost, must therefore be preserved.
–
