15,000-Year-Old Viruses Discovered in Tibetan Glacier

Scientists have recently uncovered numerous ancient viruses from a Tibetan glacier, many of which are thought to have never been seen before.

A total of 33 virus groups were discovered in two ice core samples taken from the Guliya ice cap on the Tibetan Plateau, according to a paper posted on bioRxiv on Jan. 7. One of the samples was taken in 1992, while the other was taken in 2015.

Upon examining the samples, scientists found the frozen viral populations included 28 groups which had “likely” been previously unknown to scientists.

In the paper, the scientists explained that as glaciers continue to shrink, mostly due to climate change, “this will release glacial microbes and viruses that have been trapped and preserved for tens to hundreds of thousands of years.”

“At a minimum, this could lead to the loss of microbial and viral archives that could be diagnostic and informative of past Earth climate regimes; however, in a worst-case scenario, this ice melt could release pathogens into the environment,” they wrote.

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In order to avoid contaminating the samples with modern bacteria, viruses and DNA, scientists employed a three-step decontamination process, which involved scraping the outermost layer with a sterilized band saw, followed by washing the ice core with ethanol and then again with sterile water, to obtain a “clean” section of inner ice, according to the paper.

The scientists found that “the microbes differed significantly across the two ice cores,” which they believe represented “the very different climate conditions at the time of deposition.”

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In addition to developing a new protocol for “ultra-clean microbial and viral sampling procedures,” the samples have provided “a first window into viral genomes and their ecology from glacier ice,” according to the paper.

Scientists hope the findings will “shed light on the potential impacts of viruses on their microbial hosts when active,” and will also “contribute to establishing predictive ecological models of past climate change from such ‘frozen archive’ environments.”