Ancient Viruses

In 2015, an Ohio State University team of microbiologists and climatologists ventured to the snowy tundra of the Tibetan plateau in search of old ice. Scientists'd devised a novel means of researching it without fear of contamination, and they were eager to see what knowledge the ice could reveal about the ecosystem thousands of years ago. The scientists traveled to the pinnacle of the Guliya ice cap, 22,000 feet above sea level, and extracted a 1,000-foot-deep core. Inside, scientists discovered viruses lots of them frozen in ice for 15,000 years.

The genetic material in that single ice core belonged to 33 different species of viruses, 28 of which were completely unknown to science. The Ohio researchers concluded that none of the bacteria were harmful to humans, but they cannot say the same for the many viruses that are currently on ice. And, when glaciers melt owing to climate change, they fear that hazardous old viruses making their way into the current world is a risk.

Found: 2015

Location: the frozen wilderness of the Tibetan plateau