Scientists Found Ancient, Never-Before-Seen Viruses in a Glacier

Scientists Found Ancient, Never-Before-Seen Viruses in a Glacier

4 years ago
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https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pkebx9/scientists-found-ancient-never-before-seen-viruses-in-a-glacier

15,000 years ago, some water froze atop the Tibetan Plateau and became part of a glacier. While humans were busy domesticating dogs, the ice entrapped millions of microscopic organisms per square inch. Many of the tiny life forms died, and their genomes—the only proof that they had been there in the first place—slowly degraded. Then, in 2015, scientists from the U.S. and China drilled down 50 meters into the glacier to see what they could find.

Five years later, these researchers have recovered evidence of ancient viruses in the glacier ice, including 28 viral groups that are new to science. Their study detailing the discovery was posted online as a pre-print on Tuesday.