A very long sleep under a landscape of ice: Russian researchers have discovered a microscopic animal that has come back to life after spending 24,000 years imprisoned in the Siberian permafrost.
To discover
Covid-19: vaccination as the only remedy
The bdelloïde rotifer, a multicellular organism which takes its name from the cilia surrounding its mouth to catch food, was found in a sample taken by drilling 3.5 m below the ground of the Alazeya river, in the Far North.
The team of researchers at the Pushchino Institute for Physico-Chemical and Biological Soil Problems used carbon-14 dating to determine that the rotifer was about 24,000 years old.
Read also:
Do animals have a moral sense?
To bring it back to life, the researchers placed the removed piece of permafrost in a small transparent box and allowed the ice to melt.
“All under sterile conditions of course.
It's that simple
,
”
says Stas Malavin, co-author of the study published this month in the journal
Current Biology.
.
Once thawed, the animal was even able to reproduce
This article is for subscribers only.
You have 73% left to discover.
Pushing back the limits of science is also freedom.
Continue reading your article for € 1 the first month
I ENJOY IT
Already subscribed?
Log in
