A microscopic multi-celled organism has
returned to life after being frozen for 24,000 years in Siberia, according to
new research.
Scientists dug up the animal known as a
bdelloid rotifer from the Alayeza River in the Russian Arctic.
Once thawed, it was able to reproduce
asexually, after spending millennia in a state of frozen animation known as
cryptobiosis.
Previous research said they could survive
frozen for up to 10 years.
But the new study, published
in Current Biology on Monday, suggested they could last for thousands of
years, if not indefinitely.
"The takeaway is that a multicellular
organism can be frozen and stored as such for thousands of years and then
return back to life - a dream of many fiction writers," Stas Malavin, of
Russia's Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science,
told the Press Association.
He said more research was needed to see
how it achieved the feat. The scientists in the study froze and thawed dozens
of the animals in a laboratory to examine the process.
Radiocarbon dating aged the bdelloid
rotifer specimen at between 23,960 and 24,485 years old.
Bdelloid rotifers are a class of rotifer found
in freshwater environments around the world. The name rotifer comes from the
Latin meaning "wheel bearer".
The creatures are known for their ability
to withstand extremes. They are one of the Earth's most radioactive-resistant
animals, according
to the New York Times, which reports they can also withstand low
oxygen, starvation, high acidity, and years of dehydration.
There are reports of other multi-celled
organisms coming back to life after thousands of years, including a nematode
worm, as well as some plants and mosses.
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