Russia is seeking to unlock unknown prehistoric viruses up to 50,000 years old by extracting biological material from carcasses of ancien...
Russia is seeking to unlock unknown prehistoric viruses up to 50,000 years old by extracting biological material from carcasses of ancient animals frozen in permafrost.
Scientists from the Kremlin's equivalent of Porton Down are this week taking samples from a collection of specimens preserved in ice which have been found in recent years.
They are working with the remains of extinct woolly mammoths and hairy rhinos, as well as prehistoric dogs, horses, elk, rodents and hares.
The oldest animal is believed to be a 50,000 year old lemming.
The aim is to 'conduct advanced research' in the 'evolution of viruses', but experts have previously warned that delving back into the past could pose a threat from infections. Pictured: More than 50 samples were taken from 4,450 year old remains of the Verkhoyansk horse, found in 2009 in north-east of Yakutia
Scientists from the Kremlin's equivalent of Porton Down are this week taking samples from a collection of animals preserved in ice which have been found in recent years. Pictured: Scientists taking samples from a mummy of a 42,000-year-old Batagay foal which was found in 2018 in the Batagaika Crater in eastern Siberia
The specimens being tested are all part of the collection at the Mammoth Museum of Russia's North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk and include prehistoric dogs. Pictured: The Tumat dog, a perfectly-preserved mummified puppy, found sealed in Siberian permafrost after more than 12,400 years. The dog – believed to be a three-month-old female – was unearthed by accident by two brothers searching for woolly mammoth tusks in the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia
Scientists took 50 samples today from ancient animals, and expect to gather the same number tomorrow from carcasses held at the museum. Pictured: A group of scientists stand next to a 32,200-year-old hairy mammoth carcas which was unearthed in northern Siberia in 2013
The work is spearheaded by Vector State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology, once a Cold War biological warfare research plant established by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
The high-security facility near Novosibirsk in Siberia is currently developing Russia's second Covid-19 vaccine to compete with better-known Sputnik V.
Scientists took 50 samples today from ancient beasts, and expect to gather the same number tomorrow from carcasses held at the Mammoth Museum of Russia's North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, the world's coldest city.
The work is spearheaded by Vector State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology, once a Cold War biological warfare research plant established by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Pictured: The world's only existing woolly mammoth trunk
The work is separate from ongoing international research seeking to clone species such as the woolly mammoths and rhinos back to life by using DNA from the same sources.
Vector scientist Dr Olesya Okhlopkova said: 'We want to find palaeo-viruses making it possible to start the development of palaeo-virology in Russia.'
The aim is to 'conduct advanced research' in the 'evolution of viruses', but experts have previously warned that delving back into the past could pose a threat from zombie infections.
She was taking samples from the soft tissue of the long-gone animals.
Dr Okhlopkova said they would attempt 'whole genome sequencing, with which scientists can obtain data on the entire biodiversity of microorganisms in a sample.
'If the nucleic acids were not destroyed, we will be able to obtain data on their composition and establish how it changed, what was the evolutionary development of events.'
They hope to understand 'significant trends' in the development of viruses since prehistoric times to glean the 'epidemiological potential of currently existing infectious agents'.
The animals have been found over the last decade or so as permafrost has thawed in the Arctic and subArctic.
Dr Maxim Cheprasov, acting head of Mammoth Museum, said: 'The first find with a selection of soft tissues was the Verkhoyansk horse in 2009.
'The scientific value of the find lies in the fact that its complete nuclear genome was deciphered, thanks to which the history of the origin of the modern Yakut horse became known.'
A scientist kneels next to the frozen carcass of a prehistoric mammoth which was found in the permafrost in northern Siberia in 2013
The mummy of a Batagay foal was uncovered in 2018 and scientists are now taking samples from the carcass
These horses are able to survive in temperatures as low as minus 60C.
Museum scientist Dr Sergey Fedorov said: 'The Mammoth Museum has long-standing ties with the Vector.
'We hope that palaeo-viruses will be found and interesting discoveries in the world of viruses await us.'
Vector once produced smallpox on an industrial scale, and still holds stocks, while also weaponising deadly Marburg.
In recent years the centre has been involved in efforts to find cures and antidotes to killers such as bubonic plague, anthrax, ebola, hepatitis B, HIV, SARS - and cancer.
It has developed Russia's second Covid-19 vaccine called EpiVacCorona which is soon to be mass produced.
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