New research from a group of international climate scientists shows that so-called "zombie viruses" once revived, can infect amoeba cells.
The study, published in the open journal Viruses, looked at more than a dozen new viruses isolated from seven permafrost samples from ancient Siberia.
The research built upon previous studies from the past decade that showed a virus – in some cases tens of thousands of years old – could be infectious once revived.
Researchers from France, Russia, and Germany discovered, through radiocarbon dating of the permafrost, that the viruses had been in a dormant state between 27,000 and 48,500 years.
