When all of the amoebas died, they went looking for the cause. So they obtained permafrost and added the soil to dishes containing amoebas. They had heard about an ancient plant that had been revived from permafrost.
The scientists stumbled onto the new Siberia sleeper virus quite by accident. Indeed, “with this Pithovirus, we are totally lost.” And that’s basically been adding to the confusion of what to expect from viruses, says Claverie. Giant viruses, as it turns out, come in many varieties. Nowthey’ve pinpointed yet another whole new family. Then, last summer, his group identified a second family of giant viruses. Until the discovery of Mimivirus, “we had this silly idea that all viruses were basically very small,” Claverie told Science News. In fact, viruses are not technically alive because they can’t reproduce on their own. Its name, Mimivirus, is short for “mimicking microbes.” Indeed, it was so large that scientists first thought it was a living organism. That one was large enough to be seen under an ordinary microscope. They helped discover the first giant, about 10 years ago. They describe it in a study published March 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Ĭlaverie and Abergel are no strangers to huge viruses.
At 1.5 micrometers (about six hundred-thousandths of an inch), it’s about as long as 15 particles of HIV - the virus that causes AIDS - laid end to end. And some of those may indeed pose a threat to people, warn the scientists who just unearthed the new giant virus.īiologists Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Abergel, at Aix-Marseille University in France, found the new germ. That could release other long-frozen viruses. But climate change has begun to thaw permafrost in many regions. These layers of soil stay frozen year-round. This new virus can survive long periods in permafrost. The mega-virus appears toinfect only other single-celled organisms known as amoebas. But there’s no need for people to panic about the new germ. And viruses can cause a wide range of diseases, from the common cold to polio and AIDS.
The word “virus” usually makes people think about illness.
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