42,000 year old frozen worms come back to life

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According to Gizmodo, the worms were taken out from the frozen soil in Kolyma River Lowlands in northeastern Siberia.
According to Gizmodo, the worms were taken out from the frozen soil in Kolyma River Lowlands in northeastern Siberia.

New Delhi : In a surprising experiment conducted by scientists, a sample of microscopic worms that were suspended in a deep freeze in Siberia for 42,000 years have come back to life after being defrosted.

Published in the journal Doklady Biological Sciences, the study conducted by a team of Russian scientists announced ancient nematode worms have been discovered which were left in frozen state for almost 42,000 years.  Scientists believe that the worms are said to be capable of resurrecting themselves after being buried in permafrost for at least 32,000 years. If this discovery turns out to be successful then it would be declared as the longest-surviving return that has never been seen before in a complex, multi-celled organism. 

According to a report in Gizmodo, the worms were taken out from the frozen soil in Kolyma River Lowlands in northeastern Siberia.

Experts took more than 300 samples of frozen soil, out of which 2 samples held the worms. One of them belonging to the genus Panagrolaimus were from a buried squirrel burrow which dated back 32,000 years and the other from genus Plexus were from a glacier dating back 40,000 years. The nematodes in the sample were then isolated and over the next few weeks, the researchers spotted flickers of life. 

These samples were kept at 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) and were left in a petri dish surrounded by food. The worms ate the food and even developed new family members. These new, cloned family members were then cultivated separately and they too survived. 

Researchers say that they maintained strict sterility procedures during the experimentation. Also, the researchers raised an argument that it is not possible for the new-age nematodes to move about their way 100 feet and 15 feet down where the ice samples were buried. 

According to the report in Science Alert scientists have pulled out spores from Bacillus bacteria which were hidden inside 250 million-year-old salt crystals and bring them back to life. But nothing has formerly been seen like the newly discovered worms.  Till then, there is no specific indication that these worms are presenting any danger to the people. But the melting of permafrost could release pathogens which have been locked up in such cold environments for tens of thousands of years. Let's see what’s more is in store in the Siberia's ice!