“The potentially bad news: the reemergence of other viruses “is no longer the domain of science fiction,”
Scientists have unearthed a giant virus more than 30,000 years old from the frozen soil in a remote region of Siberia.
While this ancient virus is harmless to people, the scientists behind the discovery warn that the discovery suggests that the thawing of permafrost in polar regions, as a result of either climate change or mining, could bring threats to human health.
The ancient virus, named Pithovirus sibericum, infects amoebas, not humans or animals.
It survived in the Siberian ice from a period when woolly mammoths and saber-tooth cats roamed the earth.
The scientists found it in the Chukotka Autonomous Region, the most northeasterly region of Russia, which lies across the Bering Strait from Alaska.
Its discovery was reported by the researchers, from French and Russian institutions, in an article published this week by the U.S. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Reemergence
The discovery of Pithovirus “shows how incomplete our understanding of microscopic biodiversity is when it comes to exploring new environments,” France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) said.
And the potentially bad news: the reemergence of other viruses “is no longer the domain of science fiction,” the center said.
The Latest on: Remergence of viruses
[google_news title=”” keyword=”reemergence of viruses” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Reemergence of viruses
- Chinese scientist who published COVID-19 virus sequence allowed back in his lab after sit-in proteston April 30, 2024 at 10:11 pm
The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China says he has been allowed back into his lab after days of protest ...
- Chinese scientist who published COVID-19 virus sequence is allowed back in his lab after days of sit-in proteston April 30, 2024 at 9:06 pm
Chinese scientist who published COVID-19 virus sequence is allowed back in his lab after days of sit-in protest ...
- Virologist who was first to share COVID genome is shut out of lab in Chinaon April 30, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The first person to publicly release the genome sequence of the virus that causes COVID-19 — virologist Zhang Yongzhen — appears to have resolved a public dispute with the Shanghai Public Health ...
- Bird Flu (H5N1) Explained: USDA Will Test Ground Beef Samples From Grocery Storeson April 30, 2024 at 6:14 am
Bird flu typically spreads among birds, but there have been recent outbreaks among cattle in the U.S., and one Texas man contracted the virus from sick cows. Here’s why so many experts are worried ...
- Spikes of flu virus in wastewater raise questions about spread of bird fluon April 30, 2024 at 5:38 am
Spikes of influenza A virus seen in wastewater samples from 59 sewer systems across 18 different states this spring may point to the spread of the H5N1 avian influenza virus that is currently ...
- Chinese scientist who published first sequence of COVID virus protests after being evicted from labon April 29, 2024 at 7:13 pm
The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China was staging a sit-in protest after authorities locked him out of his lab ...
- Machine learning classifies 191 of the world's most damaging viruseson April 29, 2024 at 12:15 pm
Researchers from the University of Waterloo have successfully classified 191 previously unidentified astroviruses using a new machine learning-enabled classification process.
- Pandemic Fatigue and Vaccine Hesitancy Continue to Affect Global Public Health, New 23-country Study in Nature Medicine Reportson April 29, 2024 at 6:59 am
While it found that global uptake of at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose was robust, a new survey published today in Nature Medicine revealed mixed signals about the current acceptance of vaccines ...
- U.S. Could Vaccinate a Fifth of Americans in a Bird Flu Emergencyon April 20, 2024 at 1:00 am
I f the virus currently causing an outbreak of avian influenza among U.S. dairy cattle were to begin spreading widely among humans, the federal government says it could distribute enough vaccines ...
- This ‘Lazy’ Roast Chicken Only Needs 2 Ingredients and a Cast Iron Skilleton December 20, 2023 at 11:53 am
Like many busy home cooks, I make “no-frills dishes” on a consistent basis. Why? Because these meals require a few ingredients, yet they deliver on mouthwatering flavors. Plus, if I’m able to prepare ...
via Bing News