Ancient, 15,000-year-old viruses identified from melting glaciers
What will happen when these ancient, ice-bound viruses thaw out? Buzz60
A group of scientists discovered ancient viruses frozen in two ice samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China, and most of them are unlike anything ever seen before.
The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Microbiome, came from ice cores taken in 2015 that scientists believe began to freeze at least 14,400 years ago.
“These glaciers were formed gradually, and along with dust and gases, many, many viruses were also deposited in that ice," lead author and researcher at The Ohio State University Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Zhi-Ping Zhong said in a statement.
"The glaciers in western China are not well-studied, and our goal is to use this information to reflect past environments. And viruses are a part of those environments."
When researchers analyzed the ice, they found genetic codes for 33 viruses.
Of the 33 found, genetic codes for four of them showed they are part of virus families that typically infect bacteria. However, up to 28 of the viruses were novel, meaning they had never before been identified.
However, the group doesn't believe the viruses originated from animals or humans, but came from the soil or plants. The scientists also believe roughly half of them survived because of the ice.
"These are viruses that would have thrived in extreme environments,” said Matthew Sullivan, co-author of the study and director of Ohio State’s Center of Microbiome Science.
“These viruses have signatures of genes that help them infect cells in cold environments – just surreal genetic signatures for how a virus is able to survive in extreme conditions."
Sullivan added the technology used to study microbes and viruses inside the ice would eventually lead to looking for similar genetic sequences in other extreme ice environments, possibly on Mars.
Senior author of the study Lonnie Thompson said the discovery of the viruses in glaciers of ice will also help researchers understand how they respond to climate change.
“We know very little about viruses and microbes in these extreme environments, and what is actually there,” Thompson said. “The documentation and understanding of that is extremely important."
Links
- Glacier ice archives nearly 15,000-year-old microbes and phages
- 15,000-year-old viruses discovered in Tibetan glacier ice
- Climate Change And Infectious Diseases (pdf)
- Fact check: Yes, viruses can mutate to become more deadly
- How Climate Change Is Contributing to Skyrocketing Rates of Infectious Disease
- How might climate change affect the spread of viruses?
No comments :
Post a Comment