Scientists revive nearly 48,500-year-old 'Zombie Virus' from bottom of frozen lake in Russia

Tags: Science and Technology International News

French scientists have warned of the onset of another outbreak after they revived a 48,500-year-old zombie virus buried under a frozen lake in Russia.

Important facts

• It has broken the previous record of a 30,000-year-old virus discovered by the same team in Siberia in 2013.

• This report is published in the New York Post.

• The new research was prepared by Jean-Marie Alempic, a microbiologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research.

• It has been said in the report that due to the survival of this zombie virus, a more devastating situation can arise in plants, animals and humans.

• Scientists have expressed the possibility of another epidemic like corona due to the survival of this virus.

Threat of melting glacier

• According to the report, due to global warming, permanently frozen ice is melting, which covers a quarter of the northern hemisphere.

• This has a destabilising effect on organic matter that has been frozen for millions of years, including deadly microbes.

• Research has shown that part of this organic matter includes revived cellular microbes (prokaryotes, unicellular eukaryotes) as well as viruses that have been dormant since prehistoric times.

What is a Zombie Virus?

• Zombie virus is the term given to a virus that is frozen in ice and therefore dormant.

• Research mentions 13 viruses, each of which has its own genome.

• It is called Pandoravirus Yedoma which is 48,500 years old and has the ability to infect other organisms.

• It was discovered at the bottom of a lake in Yukechi Alas in Yakutia, Russia.

• All of the zombie viruses have the potential to be infectious and hence pose a health danger.

• Scientists believe that epidemics like Covid 19 will become more common in the future.