Scientists from Ohio State University in the USA have discovered the genetic codes of 33 viruses, 28 of which were not cataloged, being completely new to science, but the most surprising thing is that these life forms were found in samples of ice with an age of 15,000 years, were extracted in 2015 from the Golilla glacier on the Tibet plateau in China.
The glacier did not form suddenly, it is the product of layer after layer of winter snowfalls that did not thaw when summer arrived and the most interesting thing is that the winds of snow storms also dragged dust where viruses lived that in the end remained trapped in the layers of the glacier, so by counting the layers scientists can know to what time the viruses and particles found in a certain layer correspond this information is important since due to global warming, the glaciers of Tibet are decreasing in size, they are they are thawing and as they melt old viruses come to the surface, which is disturbing to the scientific community.
Dr. Matthew Sullivan, professor of microbiology at Ohio State University and co-author of this study, said "that these viruses that can thrive in extreme conditions have genetic signatures that help them infect cells in very cold conditions," said the researcher, clarifying that The vast majority of viruses live peacefully without causing problems, but there is a small risk but there is that some of these prehistoric viruses end up spreading and causing problems to our health or the health of other beings, such as fauna or domestic animals of the that we depend on, that is why the investigations at the foot of the glacier are important because they allow us to know the potential enemies, before they begin a spread due to the thaw, there is also another very interesting side to these investigations in particular for astrobiologists since they show us life forms that survive in extreme conditions, similar to what we could in contrar for example in the ice of Mars.
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