Latest news with #InstituteofPhysicochemicalandBiologicalProblemsinSoilScience
Time of India
30-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Worm from the mammoth era revived after 46,000 years in Siberian ice
Imagine bringing life back after 46,000 years, like some form of suspended animation. Deep within Siberian permafrost, at a depth of about 131 feet, scientists have discovered a unique, tiny roundworm frozen since the Late Pleistocene period, when woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers roamed Earth. This little creature has now been revived, and it not only seems to have just woken up from its deep sleep, but is surviving like any other creature adapted to live in harsh, cool environments and is reproducing in a modern laboratory. This discovery opens a window into ancient times and the unbelievable resilience of life. A miracle frozen deep under the permafrost for centuries! In 2018, Russian scientists from the Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science dug deep into Siberia's permafrost and discovered two nematode species preserved in an ancient burrow. Among them, they found a roundworm in a cryptobiotic state, essentially 'between death and life,' with low and almost undetectable metabolic activity. Anastasia Shatilovich, a Russian scientist known for her work in reviving roundworms, rehydrated the worms with water, then carried about 100 of them in her pocket to labs in Germany for further study. Radiocarbon analysis of associated plant matter dated the permafrost to between 45,839 and 47,769 years ago, dating the frozen soil firmly in the Late Pleistocene. This means that these worms are among the oldest organisms ever successfully revived, which are measured in decades rather than millennia. A new species emerges Once revived, the researchers sequenced the worm's genome and found it did not match any known species. Instead, they named it Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, an honour to the Kolyma River region. Detailed analysis confirmed this roundworm had remained in cryptobiosis for approximately 46,000 years, according to the study published in the National Library of Medicine. This species has a surprising trait that helps it survive in the harshest climate! Interestingly, this new worm species shares traits with an already known species, Caenorhabditis elegans. Both species produce trehalose, a sugar believed to protect cellular structures during freezing and dehydration. Researchers found that preconditioning the worms with mild dehydration before freezing significantly boosted their survival at −80 °C. The research team believes this discovery may boost conservation biology. Schiffer, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany, told CNN: 'By looking at and analyzing these animals, we can maybe inform conservation biology, or maybe even develop efforts to protect other species, or at least learn what to do to protect them in these extreme conditions that we have now'.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Russian Scientists Brought 24,000-Year-Old Zombie Worms Back to Life
Scientists have revived 24,000-year-old bdelloid rotifer microworms. The rotifers were frozen in permafrost in a long-term cryptobiotic state. Lessons from these and other revived organisms could help farms on Mars. We promise this isn't as sinister as it sounds: Russian scientists have revived and cloned 24,000-year-old zombies. Don't worry—this isn't a Walking Dead situation. The undead organisms in questions are called bdelloid rotifers, or microscopic 'wheel animals' named for their circular mouths surrounded by tiny hairs. Like the more charismatic tardigrade, bdelloid rotifers are extremophiles—organisms that can withstand astonishing conditions like red-hot undersea vents or the vacuum of space. For this experiment, the scientists went to Siberia and carved off a slice of permafrost, the term for ground that permanently stays frozen. This particular area has been frozen since at least the end of the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago). The scientists took the frozen rotifers and thawed them gently, at which point the rotifers began to just live their lives again, including their characteristic asexual reproduction. The secret of the rotifers' success is a state of suspended animation called cryptobiosis. 'They suspend their metabolism and accumulate certain compounds like chaperone proteins that help them to recover from cryptobiosis when the conditions improve,' lead author Stas Malavin, a researcher at Russia's Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science told Live Science. Cryptobiosis is critical, because organisms with this capacity go into the special sleep state that's required to be revived later. Think about animals that prepare for hibernation versus ones that just accidentally took a nap. The preparation is key to successfully waking back up. To study the rotifers, the scientists dug down to 11.5 feet to extract an intact sample of soil, which was about 24,000 years old, according to carbon dating. After letting the soil thaw with a special medium to help wake the rotifers, the scientists quickly lost track of which microscopic creatures were old and which were the new offspring, because the rotifers reproduce by creating exact clones of themselves asexually. Researching cryptobiosis in creatures like the rotifers helps further the field of cryobiology—the study of living things at very low temperatures—in general, Malavin told Live Science. Yes, hypothetically, this could lead to similar technology for humans. But that idea is an extremely long way off, because humans are decidedly more complex than tiny, relatively simple rotifers and other extremophile organisms. The rotifers join a lineup of revived, long-frozen organisms that includes moss, weeds, and tiny worms called nematodes. Scientists brought each organism back to life after at least 1,000 years of frozen quietude. In the future, hardier plants with cryptobiotic properties could change everything from farming to storage, and perhaps even make the journey with humans to Mars. For now, though, we merely have some brand-new, microscopic worms running off copies of themselves on the Xerox machine. And that's still pretty cool. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
