An old virus that was discovered buried in frozen ice and reactivated by scientists may be dangerous to the public’s health.
According to The Weather Channel, researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research discovered 13 antiquated viruses preserved in Siberian permafrost or permanently frozen ground.
According to Science Alert, the oldest sample they found was a 48,500-year-old amoeba virus named Pandoravirus yedoma after Pandora’s box that had been preserved beneath a Siberian lake.
The researchers’ discovery of an ancient amoeba virus is ominously dubbed a “zombie virus.” In the preliminary study, zombie viruses are defined as “viruses that have been dormant since the dawn of time” but have recently come to life after becoming unfrozen.
The researchers unfroze the amoeba virus, which had lain dormant for nearly 50,000 years, turning it into a zombie virus.
The study, which has not yet undergone peer review, claims that zombie viruses could endanger public health as permafrost melts due to climate change, releasing viruses that have been frozen for a long time.
