zozo
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A group of Russian scientists have successfully revived two species of tiny worms that they discovered suspended in an icy chunk of Siberian permafrost.
The worms, known as nematodes or more commonly as roundworms, had been frozen for up to 42,000 years, since a time when much of the planet was covered in ice.
But they weren't dead — just cryogenically preserved.
The permafrost samples came from the remote Yakutia region in Siberia. The researchers analyzed over 300 samples, and selected two that had well-preserved nematodes in them. One of the samples was 100 feet deep and estimated to have frozen 32,000 years ago, while the other was just over 11 feet deep and froze 42,000 years ago.
In the report, the authors acknowledge that certain types of bacteria, algae, yeasts, seeds, and spores have been found to remain viable even after being frozen in permafrost for thousands or even millions of years. But an organism as complex as the nematode has never been shown to be capable of this.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0012496618030079
The worms, known as nematodes or more commonly as roundworms, had been frozen for up to 42,000 years, since a time when much of the planet was covered in ice.
But they weren't dead — just cryogenically preserved.
The permafrost samples came from the remote Yakutia region in Siberia. The researchers analyzed over 300 samples, and selected two that had well-preserved nematodes in them. One of the samples was 100 feet deep and estimated to have frozen 32,000 years ago, while the other was just over 11 feet deep and froze 42,000 years ago.
In the report, the authors acknowledge that certain types of bacteria, algae, yeasts, seeds, and spores have been found to remain viable even after being frozen in permafrost for thousands or even millions of years. But an organism as complex as the nematode has never been shown to be capable of this.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0012496618030079