French scientists confirmed this week they have revived a harmless virus that was locked in the Siberian permafrost for over 30,000 years, according to a recently published study.
The scientists chose this course of action as a warning that there are others that could be woken up by global warming.
The virus was found in a 98-foot-deep sample of frozen soil taken in Chukotka, right near the East Siberia Sea.
The average temperature where the virus was found is minus 13.4 degrees Celsius, or 7.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
Research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Despite the cold, the team was able to thaw out the virus and watched it replicate in a petri dish, where it did in fact infect an amoeba, which is a simple single-cell organism, according to AFP.
Radiocarbon dating of the soil sample showed that vegetation grew there over 30,000 years ago, during a time when Neanderthals and mammoths roamed the Earth, according to the study.
The study is important since it outlines how viruses can survive being locked up in the permafrost for long periods, France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said in a press statement.
"It has important implications for public-health risks in connection with exploiting mineral or energy resources in Arctic Circle regions that are becoming more and more accessible through global warming," it said.
P. sibericum has 500 genes, where, in comparison, the influenza virus has just eight.
The virus gets its name from "pithos," the ancient Greek word for jar, since it comes in an amphora shape.
The virus is so big, it can be seen through an optical microscope, instead of the more powerful electron microscope.
P. sibericum is harmless to humans and animals, as it only infects a type of amoeba called Acanthamoeba, according to the study.
"The revival of viruses that are considered to have been eradicated, such as the smallpox virus, whose replication process is similar to that of Pithovirus, is no longer limited to science fiction," said CNRS in a statement. "The risk that this scenario could happen in real life has to be viewed realistically."
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