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Ancient 15,000-Year-Old Viruses Found in Melting Tibetan Glaciers
Science Alert ^ | 26 October 2022 | By TESSA KOUMOUNDOUROS

Posted on 10/27/2022 11:35:16 AM PDT by Red Badger

Bacteriophage On Bacteria

Bacteriophages on a bacterium. (Graham Beards/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Ancient creatures are emerging from the cold storage of melting permafrost, almost like something out of a horror movie.

From incredibly preserved extinct megafauna like the woolly rhino, to the 40,000-year-old remains of a giant wolf, and bacteria over 750,000 years old.

Not all of these things are dead.

Centuries-old moss was able to spring back to life in the warmth of the laboratory. So too, incredibly, were tiny 42,000-year-old roundworms.

These fascinating glimpses of organisms from Earth's long distant past are revealing the history of ancient ecosystems, including details of the environments in which they existed.

But the melt has also created some concerns about ancient viruses coming back to haunt us.

"Melting will not only lead to the loss of those ancient, archived microbes and viruses, but also release them to the environments in the future," researchers explained in a study last year, led by first author and microbiologist Zhi-Ping Zhong from Ohio State University.

Thanks to metagenomics techniques and new methods for keeping their ice core samples sterilized, the researchers are able to get a better understanding of what exactly lies within the cold.

In the study, the team was able to identify an archive of dozens of unique 15,000-years-old viruses from the Guliya ice cap of the Tibetan Plateau, and gain insights into their functions.

"These glaciers were formed gradually, and along with dust and gases, many, many viruses were also deposited in that ice," said Zhong. These microbes potentially represent those in the atmosphere at the time of their deposit, the team explained in their paper.

Past studies have shown microbial communities correlate with changes in dust and ion concentrations in the atmosphere, and can also indicate climate and environmental conditions at the time.

Within these frozen records of ancient times, 6.7 kilometers (22,000 feet) above sea level in China, the researchers discovered that 28 of the 33 viruses they identified had never been seen before.

"These are viruses that would have thrived in extreme environments," said Ohio State University microbiologist Matthew Sullivan, with "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."

Comparing their genetic sequences to a database from known viruses, the team found the most abundant viruses in both ice core samples were bacteriophages that infect Methylobacterium – bacteria important to the methane cycle within ice.

They were most related to viruses found in Methylobacterium strains in plant and soil habitats – consistent with a previous report that the main source of dust deposited on Guliya ice cap likely originates from the soils.

"These frozen viruses likely originate from soil or plants and facilitate nutrient acquisition for their hosts," the team concluded.

While the specter of ancient viruses seems particularly worrisome after the COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest danger lies in what else the melting ice is releasing – massive reserves of sequestered methane and carbon.

But it's clear the ice could also hold insights into past environmental changes, and the evolution of viruses too.

"We know very little about viruses and microbes in these extreme environments, and what is actually there," explained Earth scientist Lonnie Thompson, who noted we still have many important questions unanswered.

"How do bacteria and viruses respond to climate change? What happens when we go from an ice age to a warm period like we're in now?"

There is much still to be explored.

This study was published in Microbiome.

A version of this article was first published in July 2021.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: globalwarminghoax; godsgravesglyphs; greennewdeal
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To: Red Badger

By all means, give Dr. Fauci samples so he can fund gain of function research. It’s only viral justice. They have been falling behind their white, viral cousins for tens of thousands of years, as their cousins got tougher and meaner.


21 posted on 10/27/2022 12:37:02 PM PDT by ModelBreaker
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To: Red Badger; neverdem; ProtectOurFreedom; Mother Abigail; EBH; vetvetdoug; Smokin' Joe; ...
Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

The false positive rate was 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

Quarantine the sick. Protect the vulnerable. Hang the guilty. Free everyone else.

22 posted on 10/27/2022 1:11:49 PM PDT by null and void (← Not delusional, just differently realitied...)
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To: null and void

Almost in before the ping on this one!

‘Face

;o]


23 posted on 10/27/2022 1:17:08 PM PDT by Monkey Face ( ~~ Blowing out someone else's candle won't make yours shine brighter. ~~)
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To: Red Badger

Do NOT tell Fauci about this!!!


24 posted on 10/27/2022 1:55:28 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (FBI out of Florida!)
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To: Red Badger

25 posted on 10/27/2022 2:36:44 PM PDT by norsky ( <P><img src=" "width=400"></img> <P> <a href= > </a>)
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To: null and void

I think this was a movie plot.


26 posted on 10/27/2022 3:17:10 PM PDT by Chgogal (Welcome to Fuhrer Biden's Weaponized Fascist Banana Republic! It's the road to hell.)
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To: Red Badger; null and void; All

Well, there’s our October Surprise! Y’all stay home until November 9th, just to flatten the curve! Lock your doors, don your masks, slather yourself from head to toe in hand sanitizer (especially in your ears, nose, eyes and throat!) and cower in fear under your beds!

*SMIRK*

And when you wake UP from this NIGHTMARE in 2024, President in Exile Trump will be back at the helm!

Yay! :)


27 posted on 10/27/2022 4:10:04 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set. )
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To: Red Badger; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
IOW, our ancestors already encountered it, and since we're still here, we don't have to worry about it.

28 posted on 10/28/2022 10:03:50 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Red Badger

Don’t tell Dr Falsi.


29 posted on 10/28/2022 10:23:00 AM PDT by rdl6989 ( )
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