Danish scientists at the University of Aarhus found about 48,500 years old viable viruses in the ice hooks of Greenland. The results of the study were published in the Microbiome scientific journal.
Researchers have studied samples of dark ice, red snow and cryoconite collected from the surface of the ice layer of Greenland. The viruses were not found in deep layers, but on the surface of the glaciers, where they were interfered with microwers. These algae contributes to the melting of ice, creating a favorable environment for bacteria and accelerating the decay of the ice layer.
The specialists were especially interested in Pandoravirus Yedoma virus, which, as it turned out, could infect the amoebas after melting. It has up to one micrometer size and about 2.5 million nucleotides, which makes it one of the largest viruses known on Earth.
Previously, they thought that such viruses could only survive in Siberian Eternal Ice or deep ocean sediments. The new discovery expands the borders of their possible settlement.
The study of ancient viruses began in 2013, when the French scientist Jean-Michel Claverer "Revived" Pithovirus Sibericum virus, which is about 30,000 years old. In 2022, Pandoravirus Yedoma was first isolated from Siberian Eternal Depression. Now the virus has been found in Greenland, which confirms its widespread spread in prehistoric times.
Due to global warming, the accelerated melting of glaciers and eternal freezes can lead to the emission of microorganisms in the movement in the event. Scientists warn that in the absence of such causes of immunity, there is a danger of a new contagious threats.
