Permafrost is ground that is always frozen, and the possibility of life existing there is believed to be low. However, in recent years, Scientists have discovered an abundance of microorganisms that are still alive despite being frozen in permafrost.
Various viruses, including one called Pandoravirus, have been found frozen. Researchers have been able to revive a frozen Pandoravirus that only infects amoebas from 30,000-year-old permafrost in Siberia.
More concerning viruses, such as strains of influenza that caused the 1918 pandemic, have also been discovered. The smallpox virus was found in a 300-year-old Siberian mummy, but the virus was no longer infectious as its genome was degraded.
Most viruses cannot survive long outside a host, reducing the likelihood of still-infectious human viruses in permafrost. Rather, the discovery of viruses infecting other microbes, like bacteria adapted to extreme environments, is more probable.
Some living bacteria found in permafrost over a million years old can still cause illness. The anthrax outbreak in Siberia in 2016 killed humans and animals, likely due to melting permafrost exposing the bacteria.
Bacillus anthracis is a type of bacteria that can form spores enabling survival in harsh environments. Climate change-induced permafrost melting may lead to ancient microbe outbreaks, but the emergence of new viruses causing global pandemics from permafrost is unlikely.
This article addresses the question of how a virus can survive in ice for many years, posed by Roy Meddings in an email.
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
