[News Terms] Global Warming Disaster Zombie Virus 'Metushella Species'

The 'Methuselah species' are threatening microorganisms existing in the Earth's permafrost. They are also known as 'zombie viruses.'

The permafrost, distributed in high-latitude regions near the Arctic or Antarctic, is a soil layer where the ground temperature remains below the freezing point of water throughout the year. The Methuselah species can survive in this permafrost for tens of thousands of years.

Methuselah is the English transliteration of 'Mudeusella,' the name of the longest-living biblical figure. Mudeusella was the eighth-generation descendant of Adam, who lost the chance of eternal life due to original sin, the son of Enoch, and the grandfather of Noah. According to Genesis, he lived up to 969 years.

Scientists continue to warn that zombie viruses buried in the permafrost may emerge due to the disappearance of Arctic sea ice, posing a threat to humanity.
[Photo by NASA]

Because he lived the longest among biblical figures, Mudeusella symbolizes longevity in Western culture. For this reason, the name Methuselah is used for genes related to longevity, as well as for various beings such as humans or monsters who live long or eternally in novels and movies.

Scientists have warned that if global warming causes the Arctic permafrost to melt, ancient zombie viruses trapped underground could become active again, leading to a public health catastrophe the world has never faced before.

In March last year, a research team led by Professor Jean-Michel Claverie of Aix-Marseille University in France announced in the preprint journal 'bioRxiv' that they had discovered seven frozen viruses in the permafrost of northeastern Siberia and confirmed that their reproductive ability was still alive.

According to the research team, a so-called 'zombie virus' that had remained frozen and reproductively active in the Siberian permafrost for about 48,500 years has awakened. This means that if the ice in the permafrost melts, it could pose a threat to plants and animals on Earth. Dr. Claverie said at the time, "If ancient giant viruses have maintained infectivity despite being frozen for a long time, other ancient viruses are likely the same."

Computer-enhanced microscope image of 'Pithovirus sibericum' isolated from a 30,000-year-old permafrost sample in 2014.
[Photo by Claverie/IGS/CNRS-AM]

The problem is that modern humans have no natural immunity to defend against such prehistoric viruses. In an interview with the British daily newspaper The Guardian on the 21st (local time), Dr. Claverie warned, "As Arctic ice melts due to global warming, industrial development such as transportation in Siberia becomes possible, and large-scale mining plans will drill holes deep into the permafrost. Such operations will release enormous amounts of pathogens present there, and disasters could be caused by miners inhaling those viruses."

Dr. Marion Koopmans, a virologist at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, also supported Dr. Claverie's claims, emphasizing, "We do not know what viruses exist in the permafrost, but there is a real risk that viruses capable of triggering diseases like ancient forms of polio could be present. We must assume that such events could occur."