While the arctic ice melts, some scientists are open about their worry that “arctic zombie viruses” will come from Siberia.
Scientists say that because of climate change, the arctic tundra will melt. This will let out old viruses that could be dangerous to humans if they come into contact with them. “Permafrost” is a permanently frozen layer below the Earth’s surface, according to National Geographic. It can be made up of dirt, gravel, and sand, which are usually held together by ice.
A researcher and former professor at the School of Medicine at Aix-Marseille University, Jean-Michel Claverieis, has done a lot of work on “arctic viruses,” which are also known as “Methuselah Microbes.” Jean said that in a 2015 report about studies on these viruses, they took out a few viruses and found that they were about 30,000 years old.
“It is now clear that a significant proportion of prehistoric viruses can remain infectious for even longer periods of time,” Claverie added. This means that the viruses could still affect us if we come into contact with them.
The permafrost in Siberia has been stable and frozen for 400,000 years. However, because of climate change, it could start melting more. Claverie said that when the permafrost melts, it can “increase the release and revival of permafrost microbes, including ancient ones from the late Pleistocene.”
Scientists think that one problem is that some of these germs have never been seen by our immune systems or bodies before. This could make it hard to protect us from them. Claverie did say that they can “reasonably believe” that modern antibiotics would be able to kill many of these viruses. However, he also said that the older bacteria could sometimes be very dangerous.
Experts also said that the procedure was a lot like COVID-19 and how long it took for doctors to come up with vaccines and antivirals to stop the virus from spreading. Based on what we know about them, these older ancient images might take a lot more time and people to control.
