According to these experts in the journal PNAS , the climate change that affects the planet could make the permafrost that has covered large areas of the Arctic and sub-arctic regions disappear for centuries , which, in turn, may release unknown microorganisms retained in that environment that could be dangerous. In fact, the discovery of deposits of oil and valuable minerals in the areas from which the ice is retreating could accelerate the process, as it is likely that they will begin to be exploited.
On this occasion, the Gallic scientists will try to “bring to life” Mollivirus sibericum , a giant virus (that is the name of those whose size exceeds half a micron, that is, one thousandth of a millimeter) discovered in the northeast From Russia; the fourth “prehistoric” found since 2003. Before that, they will make sure that it cannot cause harm to animals or people.
” In the presence of a vulnerable host, a few viral particles that are still infectious could be enough to revive a potentially pathogenic virus ,” says Jean-Michel Claverie, from the Genomic and Structural Information Laboratory of the National Center for Scientific Research. from France, one of the trial coordinators.
“If we are not careful and industrially exploit these regions without sufficient guarantees, we run the risk of bringing back to life such harmful viruses as smallpox, which we already believed were eradicated,” says Claverie. These scientists point out that it is necessary to carry out this type of experiment in specially protected places, where it is possible to study this scenario. On this occasion, the team will work in a maximum security laboratory of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and will use an amoeba, a single-celled organism, as host for M. sibericum.
The test will also shed some light on these microorganisms. And it is that the prehistoric giant viruses are not only larger, but more complex than the current ones from a genetic point of view. For example, M. sibericum has more than 500 genes and pandoraviruses , which are even larger, 2,500. The flu A, meanwhile, only has eight.
