A group of scientists have found 41,000-year-old viruses in the glaciers of China that were not discovered until now; A finding that could show how viruses have been able to adapt to climate change over thousands of years.
According to the Anna Science and Technology news agency, citing IE, researchers have found almost 1,700 hidden ancient virus species in the Guliya glacier on the Tibetan Plateau. These viruses were discovered mainly because of the pieces of viral DNA that were frozen in the ice core.
Researchers will likely analyze the DNA of these ancient viruses and examine how the viruses have adapted to climate change. For now, they are still gathering as much information as possible.
A warning for climate change
ZhiPing Zhonge, one of the authors of the study, said that not much has been done before, adding: “The idea of how viruses are related to major changes in the Earth's climate remains unexplored.”
He noted: “The ice in the glaciers is really valuable, and researchers often don't have large amounts of materials needed for virus and germ research. “Viruses come from nine time horizons spanning three cold-to-warm cycles over the past 41,000 years.”
These ice cores were sampled from the Glia glacier located in the Himalayas in northwest Tibet and about 4 miles above sea level. Siberia is home to ancient viruses that have been frozen in the deep permafrost. Some researchers have expressed concern that as the earth's ice melts due to climate change around the world, one of these viruses will probably infect humans.
Jean-Michel Claverie, a professor at the University of Aix-Marseille in France and head of the study, previously said: “If amoeba viruses can survive for that long in permafrost, it strongly suggests that infected viruses Animals and humans can also remain in the same infectious state. In addition, we know that DNA (viruses infecting animals/humans) have been detected in the deep permafrost layer.”
Discovering the relationship between climate change and melting of glaciers
This discovery speaks of how ancient viruses adapted and evolved with climate change. They also discovered some communities in ice cores dating back to about 11,500 years ago.
This at least suggests a potential link between viruses and climate change, Zhong added. About a quarter of these viruses overlap with species found in different regions.
“Science is a new tool that can help answer fundamental climate questions,” noted Professor Lonnie Thompson, who studies life in the ice cores of glaciers.
Glacier melting has increased over the past century. Some glaciers in the Himalayas, Alps and Andes have been significantly damaged. A 2023 report by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) showed that if the climate warms by 1.5 to 2 degrees, between 30 and 50 percent of the volume of Himalayan glaciers will likely melt by 2100.
Thompson was optimistic about the whole process, stating that it could help solve scientific problems.
The results of this research have been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
