Global Warming Wake of Ancient Monsters

Antarctic ice is removed bacterium age 8 million years. Moreover, she began to proliferate in vitro.

This suggests that as the melting of glaciers by global warming will return to life ancient microorganisms. Scientists say that fear has no place, and that a similar process occurs billions of years. But where did they know it is a mystery …

Researcher Paul Falkovski Rutdzherskogo from the University of New Jersey, who made this discovery, extracted bacterial DNA from the age of 100 000 to 8 million years of ice (at a depth of 3 to 5 m) and the Mullins Valley Beacon in the Antarctic. What has the youngest multiply 10 times faster.

Scientists have also identified an average length of DNA found in samples of ice. With this, they found that the half-life in ice of the genome is 1.1 million years. In line with the hypothesized chain disruption occurs under the influence of cosmic rays that have the greatest force at the poles, since in these regions of the earth magnetic field is weakest.

Thus, if the ice melt in Greenland, which is sufficiently far from the poles, or ice cap mountain tops, which are less susceptible to cosmic radiation, we may be witness to wake up older and dangerous micro-organisms that have preserved much of its genome.

Just imagine: the most ancient bacteria and viruses, to which modern life was lost immunity, is back in action. Millions of years ago they killed the dinosaurs, parasitizing in their blood and sucking their life force, and now get to people and other animals.

The consequences can be dire. This is not new strains to which you can adapt quickly, and yet who can bring and brings a lot of trouble (avian influenza, HIV). This is a new living organism, which in modern times could not even stay Ave