Scientists revive 'giant virus' from Siberian permafrost

[Tale]

Scientists revive 'giant virus' from Siberian permafrost

"To pull out a virus that's 30,000 years old and actually grow it, that's pretty impressive," said Scott O. Rogers of Bowling Green State University who was not involved in the research.

"who was not involved in the research" because digging up unknown viruses.

To search for giant viruses in the samples, the French researchers added bits of the permafrost to colonies of amoebae to see if any viruses in the permafrost could infect them. The amoebae began to die – a sign that something in the permafrost was killing them. When the scientists examined the colonies, they discovered that giant viruses were multiplying inside the amoebae.

"to see if any viruses in the permafrost", i.e. there are others in the samples they're bringing up, and they don't know what those do either.

[TheWalrus]

Saw this, laughed, accepted end was near.

[IainC]

Please tell me the dog was ok?

[01101010]

Yeah I read that story and my immediate reaction was, 'this is not going to end well.'

[ghost]

Yeah, you love the quote from the scientists about how (and I paraphrase here), "well shit ya'll....This is proof that we could dig up something totally awful that could kill everyone."   

[Lakov_Sanite]

I see no way this could go horribly wrong.

[Ghambit]

It's like none of them have seen The Thing.

[Engels]

[Ironwood]

You can pick up an axe and go crazy,
but I can grow legs from my head...

[pxib]

These things are fascinating. They're kind of a missing link between virus and bacteria. They're so large and complex that instead of merely hijacking the cell's DNA, they need to construct their own specialized organelles which, in turn, construct the giant virus. One could say they have a portion of their life cycle in which they are functionally bacterial. Only a few species have been found in the present day, and they're so large that you pretty much need to be an amoeba in order to get infected by them. They don't fit through the sort of pathways that normal viruses use to infect, say, our cells.

In a microscope they look like hairy icosohedrons.

[Jeff Kelly]

it's actually very important research thanks to climate change. The permafrost is already thawing in some places and this will likely continue going forward. When that happens we will be exposed to a whole lot of microorganisms, bacteria and virii that have been frozen in the permafrost for eons. If this story is any indication this will likely not end well for us if we're not prepared.

[Yegolev]

According to the wikipedia, it's far too late to worry.

Patrick Scheid, a parasitologist from the Central Institute of the Bundeswehr Medical Service in Koblenz, Germany, found one in 2008, in an amoeba living in the contact lens of a woman with keratitis.

Just learn to love the parasite.

[Sky]

it's actually very important research thanks to climate change. The permafrost is already thawing in some places and this will likely continue going forward. When that happens we will be exposed to a whole lot of microorganisms, bacteria and virii that have been frozen in the permafrost for eons. If this story is any indication this will likely not end well for us if we're not prepared.

Don't panic, we have hand sanitizer.

[Shannow]

Isn't this a Syfy series?

[Paelos]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751141/

X files episode.

[HaemishM]

Rogers considered the risk of an outbreak of resurrected viruses to be "extremely low", pointing out that scientists have been excavating permafrost and ice for decades without any known infections.
"But there's always the first instance, right?" he added.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/scientists-revive-giant-virus-from-siberian-permafrost-20140304-3418p.html#ixzz2v6dHtUfT

Thanks for the reassurance.

Asshole.

[sickrubik]

Edit: I am totally blind today.

[Ghambit]

Yup.
This is precisely what will happen once said amoeba get infected, then get introduced into the water supply, and some little kid goes swimming and forgets to plug his nose jumping into the water.  Alien macro-viral brain eating amoeba, or AMBEA ('cause all scientists love acronyms).

[WayAbvPar]

Michael Crichton is unimpressed.

[Venkman]

it's actually very important research thanks to climate change. The permafrost is already thawing in some places and this will likely continue going forward. When that happens we will be exposed to a whole lot of microorganisms, bacteria and virii that have been frozen in the permafrost for eons. If this story is any indication this will likely not end well for us if we're not prepared.

Don't panic, we have hand sanitizer.