Scientists Discover, Revive Giant Prehistoric Virus from Permafrost

An ancient and giant virus, which was recently discovered in the Siberian wastelands, is going to be reanimated by France’s National Center for Scientific Research, or CNRS, scientists. The French researchers that have unearth the virus promised to make sure that the virus won’t be dangerous to anyone first.

Apparently, this particular virus had remained undisturbed for 30,000 years as it resided around 30 meters deep in the Siberian permafrost. Astrobiologists have actually obtained core samples in their search for life, before stumbling on research which revived a plant from a seed that had been dormant for the better part of an estimated 30,000 years. Results started to get interesting when the seed came into contact with an ancient squirrel’s nest.

Claverie mentioned, “We’re not stupid enough to revive a virus that may pose a threat to human health.We use amoeba as bait to fish out whatever viruses may be in that specific sample. But every once in a while, we see them die and that’s when we know somebody must be killing them. This way, we know which to isolate from the others.”

Agencies/Canadajournal