Prehistoric 'Frankenvirus' Mollivirus sibericum uncovered in Siberian permafrost

 Scanning electron microscopy of two isolated Mollivirus particles. Photo: PNAS

Last year, the same team of French virus-hunters discovered another giant virus strain, Pithovirus sibericum, in the same sample of Arctic permafrost. Neither virus is harmful to humans or animals and both are hosted in common soil amoeba.

However, the authors of the study said that "the fact that two different viruses could be easily revived from prehistoric permafrost should be of concern in [the] context of global warming".

In their paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science , the researchers wrote: "Our finding suggests that prehistory 'live' viruses are not a rare occurrence." Further, they warn "we cannot rule out that distant viruses of ancient Siberian human populations could re-emerge as Arctic permafrost layers melt and/or are disrupted by industrial activities".