Sci Tech
Melting Frost in Siberia Awakens Lost Virus after 30000 years
Transmission electron microscopy color image of a Pithovirus sibericum cross-section. This virion, dating back more than 30,000 years, is 1.5 ?m long and 0.5 ?m wide, which makes it the largest virus ever discovered. (Julia Bartoli & Chantal Abergel, IGS, CNRS/AMU)
Marseille, France – A researcher from the Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) at the University of Aix-Marseille has announced the discovery of a giant virus called Pithovirus sibericum. The virus is said to be “large” because it is visible under an ordinary microscope. The pathogen dates back 30,000 years during an ice age and has been released due to the melting frosts of Siberia. An enlarged image of the virus shows a yellow-brown epoxy like body with a black rim about the body. Ew!
However, the pathogen is not believed to pose any risk to either humans or animals. Thankfully, this pathogen feeds off of amoebas. However, Dr Chantal Abergel of the CNRS cautions that this pathogen is likely one of many others which are awaiting release from their quasi-cryogenic sleep in the frozen tundra. As for the Pithovirus sibericum, researchers are sequencing its DNA in order to determine the potential danger to other life forms. What concerns Dr. Abergel are forthcoming plans to mine new areas of Siberia which can have the unintended consequence of releasing potentially harmful viruses into the environment.
He claims the danger lies in the deep permafrost layers in these frozen landscapes. However, industrial interests need to bore deep into those layers in a quest for natural resources. This is why he terms the situation as being a “recipe for disaster”. Dr. Abergel is concerned about the possibility that a lethal virus such as smallpox, now believed to be eradicated from earth, may only be eradicated from the planet’s surface. If such a virus were to be able to survive in a frozen state, it would be a time bomb that can get released causing a pandemic. The smallpox virus was eradicated three decades ago. Thus far, no one has proposed a balanced approach to exploring the deep permafrost and avoiding potentially fatal viruses.
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Source:
Lost virus returns after 30,000 year old permafrost melts 31
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/05/lost-virus-returns-after-30000-year-old-permafrost-melts