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| credit: NatGeo |
It is a story that would make Dr. Frankenstein green with professional envy: French scientists have revived an ancient form of giant virus frozen in the Siberian tundra for 30,000 years. The feat has given new impetus to those scientists who want to use ancient DNA to reanimate long lost species like the Wooly Mammoth.
Pithovirus sibericum was found fourteen feet down in Siberian permafrost carefully defrosted in
the lab at Aix-Marseille University. Not only is the virus a lot larger than modern viruses-- 1.5 micron long by 0.5 microns wide, about the size of a bacterium--it retained its ability to infect amoebae. Retaining infectious properties for so long gave the researchers pause for concern since Arctic permafrost is undergoing rapid melting due to global warming; others suggest the possibility that a thawed ancient virus could pose a health threat to humans stretches credulity since humans breath in and ingest thousands of viruses every day. Fortunately
Pithovirus cannot infect human cells.
Russian scientists are credited with reviving a wild flower from frozen seeds buried by ground squirrels in the banks of Siberia's Kolyma River 38 meters below the surface.
Silene stenophylia [photo credit: Nature.com] was germinated from plant placental tissue cultivated
in vitro. The plant has produced second generation seeds which in turn have produced fertile plants. It is thought to be the oldest multicellular organism on Earth at 31,000 years old (31,800± 800). This plant was once part of the mammoth steppe ecosystem which disappeared about 13,000 years ago and has no modern counterpart.
