Scientists Revive Microorganisms Frozen in Permafrost for 40,000 Years and Raise Alarm of Potential New Pandemic

Written by Jefferson Augusto

Published on 03/10/2025 at 22:15

Robyn Barbato, do Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, perfura uma amostra das paredes do Permafrost Research Tunnel – Foto: Tristan Caro.

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Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder managed to reactivate microorganisms that were frozen for approximately 40 thousand years in the Alaskan permafrost.

The achievement, described in a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, raises a global alert: these ancient organisms may release greenhouse gases and, in extreme cases, even trigger unknown diseases.

The researchers collected samples in the Permafrost Research Tunnel, near Fairbanks, excavated in the 1960s for climate studies.

By thawing the material and incubating it at temperatures similar to those of summer in the Arctic, they observed that, after a few months, the microorganisms “woke up” and formed active colonies.

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According to geoscientist Dr. Tristan Caro, a lead author of the study, “these samples are not dead by any means.”

Although the microbes analyzed are unlikely to infect humans, scientists kept the tests in sealed chambers as a precaution.

In addition to the health risk, the process reveals another problem: as they become active again, microorganisms emit carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane, both gases that accelerate global warming.

The longer and more intense the summers in the Arctic, the greater the chance that these microbial communities will awaken and contribute to the climate crisis.

This scenario is not unprecedented. In 2022, a prehistoric virus dubbed Pandoravirus, preserved for 48,500 years in the permafrost of Siberia, was revived in the lab.

Although it does not pose an immediate danger to humans, such cases show that ancient microorganisms can return to the surface.

Experts warn that known diseases, such as anthrax and smallpox, along with viruses and bacteria still unknown, may be dormant in the ice. “The thawing of the permafrost is a Pandora’s box. We do not know exactly what might emerge,” declared Swedish infectious disease specialist Dr. Brigitta Evengård.

The study concludes that the accelerated thawing of the Arctic, driven by climate change, threatens not only to release large amounts of greenhouse gases but also exposes humanity to microorganisms that have remained isolated for millennia, and whose impact is still unpredictable.

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Scientists Revive Microorganisms Frozen in Permafrost for 40,000 Years and Raise Alarm of Potential New Pandemic

Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder managed to reactivate microorganisms that were frozen for approximately 40 thousand years in the Alaskan permafrost.

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