More than 1,700 frozen viruses have been discovered in the Gulia Glacier in Tibet. The discovery was made by a group of scientists from Ohio University, its results published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Scientists made a core more than 200 meters deep in the ice and dated the ice samples. They then sequenced and isolated the DNA of the viruses. Most of the viruses – about three-quarters – were described for the first time. But about a quarter are well known – they are found in Arctic glaciers and even outside glaciers in the Middle East.
Scientists explain that none of the viruses found threaten organisms living on earth. The viruses are either preserved in fragmented form or have already infected microorganisms and thus neutralized.
The researchers focused on a virus community about 11,500 years old. This is the period of warming after the Ice Age. At this point, viruses and other microorganisms began to change to adapt to rising temperatures.
It is likely that similar processes are taking place today. The melting of the Arctic or Greenland, the rise of Antarctica, rising sea levels. But changes that occur in the microcosm can affect life on Earth just as dramatically. Analysis of ice cores, which allows us to study the evolution of viruses, is needed to predict the impact of climate change on the microcosm.
Scientists note another point. The methods used in analyzing ice cores and searching for traces of life can help in the search for extraterrestrial life. Saturn’s satellite Enceladus or Jupiter’s satellite Europa are likely to have subglacial oceans. If so, the methods developed by scientists to analyze ice cores from Tibet could be useful for analyzing ice cores on these celestial bodies.
2,476 total views, 4 views today
