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Paleontology: Worms Frozen for 42,000 Years in Siberian Permafrost Wriggle to Life

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More frozen stuff.

Worms Frozen for 42,000 Years in Siberian Permafrost Wriggle to Life

Live Science said:
Did you ever wake up from a long nap feeling a little disoriented, not quite knowing where you were? Now, imagine getting a wake-up call after being "asleep" for 42,000 years.

In Siberia, melting permafrost is releasing nematodes — microscopic worms that live in soil — that have been suspended in a deep freeze since the Pleistocene. Despite being frozen for tens of thousands of years, two species of these worms were successfully revived, scientists recently reported in a new study.

Their findings, published in the May 2018 issue of the journal Doklady Biological Sciences, represent the first evidence of multicellular organisms returning to life after a long-term slumber in Arctic permafrost, the researchers wrote.

Though nematodes are tiny — typically measuring about 1 millimeter in length — they are known to possess impressive abilities. Some are found living 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers) below Earth's surface, deeper than any other multicellular animal. Certain worms that live on an island in the Indian Ocean can develop one of five different mouths, depending on what type of food is available. Others are adapted to thrive inside slug intestines and travel on slimy highways of slug poop.

For the new study, researchers analyzed 300 samples of Arctic permafrost deposits and found two that held several well-preserved nematodes. One sample was collected from a fossil squirrel burrow near the Alazeya River in the northeastern part of Yakutia, Russia, from deposits estimated to be about 32,000 years old. The other permafrost sample came from the Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia, and the age of nearby deposits was around 42,000 years old, the scientists reported.

They isolated the worms — all females — from the permafrost samples, finding they represented two known nematode species: Panagrolaimus detritophagus and Plectus parvus. After defrosting the worms, the researchers saw them moving and eating, making this the first evidence of "natural cryopreservation" of multicellular animals, according to the study.

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Kjbartolotta

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That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
 
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Yeah, this'll never be the start of a monster/disaster film... not.

(Bonus points if the worms grow huge and roar. Double bonus if the hero is an American for some reason, and the Russian scientist he has to work with - reluctantly, invariably - is some hot blonde chick who seems utterly incapable of comprehending cheese, let alone science. Triple bonus if the hero is a single father to a precocious child who is endangered through their own stupidity at least once.)
 
cornflake

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S1, e8 of the X-Files, ICE.

After Hodge departs, Mulder comments the worms are still buried deep in the ice, which is where Scully believes he should leave them.
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Ooops.
 
MaeZe

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Kjbartolotta said:
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
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Brightdreamer said:
Yeah, this'll never be the start of a monster/disaster film... not.

(Bonus points if the worms grow huge and roar. Double bonus if the hero is an American for some reason, and the Russian scientist he has to work with - reluctantly, invariably - is some hot blonde chick who seems utterly incapable of comprehending cheese, let alone science. Triple bonus if the hero is a single father to a precocious child who is endangered through their own stupidity at least once.)
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Ooookay. :D
 
Kjbartolotta

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Others are adapted to thrive inside slug intestines and travel on slimy highways of slug poop.
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I thought this was also notable. On slimy highways of slug poop.
 
Bacchus

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Kjbartolotta said:
I thought this was also notable. On slimy highways of slug poop.
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Life's like that. Some days you clamber up the ladders of success, others you slither down the slides of slug slime...


Incredible story though - signs of life after 42,000 years fills me with hope for our Prime Minister's brain cells (and, dare I say it, a certain U.S President...)
 
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