Scientists to revive 30,000-year-old giant 'monster' virus

Monday, September 14, 2015, 9:57 AM - It's the latest discovery in a saga of ancient viruses, and researchers are curious to see its potential effects on humans and animals.

The giant Mollivirus sibericum, which translates into "soft Siberian virus," was discovered weeks ago by a team of French Scientists with the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

The pathogen was hidden in fruit seeds buried by an "ancient squirrel," CNN reports. When Russian scientists regenerated the seeds into full-flowering plants, the virus was found in the soil.

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Before, it laid dormant, frozen 30 m beneath the ground in a deep layer of the Siberian permafrost in the Kolyma lowland region of northeastern Russia.

By contrast to other viruses, reports are referring to Mollivirus sibericum as a “monster” – the ovular-shaped contagion contains 523 genetic proteins, measuring at 0.6 microns, and visible by way of light microscopy.

"Giant" viruses are those that measure longer than half a micron, which is one thousandth of a millimetre.

Though its predecessors were proven harmless to humans and animals, French scientists say there's a possibility for other dangerous viruses to be uncovered as the ground is exposed.

In an interview with BBC news in 2014, researchers said the region has been under threat since the 1970s due to retreating and thinning permafrost – the result of climate change, the British publication notes.

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Professor Jean-Michel Claverie from the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) at the University of Aix-Marseille in France told the BBC that the loss of ice is a “recipe for disaster,” adding that ancient remnants of the smallpox virus could even pose a risk, though the virus was declared eradicated more than 30 years ago.

Though the possibility of finding a virus that can still cause contagion 30,000 years later, looks slim.

Professor Jonathan Ball, a virologist from the University of Nottingham, told the BBC that "[f]inding a virus still capable of infecting its host after such a long time is still pretty astounding.”

Ball added, “[B]ut just how long other viruses could remain viable in permafrost is anyone's guess. It will depend a lot on the actual virus. I doubt they are all as robust as this one," the BBC reports.

The new bug is the fourth in a series of recently discovered prehistoric viruses, which began in 2003.The first discovery was the Mimivirus, followed by two Pandoraviruses.

One of these two discoveries, the Pithovirus sibericum – discovered approximately 10 years ago – is the biggest ever found.

Findings on the saga of ancient viruses can be viewed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

SOURCES: PNAS | BBC | Nature | Sci-News | CNN

Thumbnail image courtesy of PNAS/CNRS.