30,000-year-old giant virus revived from the Siberian permafrost

An ancient virus buried deep in the Russian permafrost of Siberia has been brought back to life after being frozen for 30,000 years and is still infectious

The French scientists who resurrected the giant microbe say that it does not, however, pose a thereat to humans or animals, but more dangerous viruses could be released as more ice melts.

The ancient pathogen, known as Pithovirus sibericum, only infects single celled amoebas and is in a class of giant viruses, which are visible under a microscope and discovered only 10 years ago.

The last time the virus infected anything, Neanderthal man still walked the earth and modern humans wouldn’t reach the Americas for another 15,000 years.

Professor Jean-Michel Claverie, from the National Centre of Science Research in France, said: “This is the first time we have seen a virus that’s still active after this length of time,” and warned that industrial exploration and global warming is a “recipe for disaster” and could even expose ancient strains of the smallpox virus.

However, Professor Jonathon Ball from the University of Nottingham, England played down professor Claverie’s fears saying that most viruses would not survive freezing and thawing and if they did “they would need to find a host pretty fast.”