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In news that’s a lot less sinister than it sounds, but no less exciting, Russian scientists have revived and cloned 24,000-year-old zombies.
Don’t worry—this isn’t a Walking Dead situation. The undead organisms in questions are called bdelloid rotifers, or microscopic “wheel animals” named for their circular mouths surrounded by tiny hairs. Like the more charismatic tardigrade, bdelloid rotifers are extremophiles—organisms that can withstand astonishing conditions like red-hot undersea vents or the vacuum of space.
For this experiment, the scientists went to Siberia and carved off a slice of permafrost, the term for ground that permanently stays frozen. This particular area has been frozen since at least the end of the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).
The scientists took the frozen rotifers and thawed them gently, at which point the rotifers began to just live their lives again, including their characteristic asexual reproduction. The secret of the rotifers’ success is a state of suspended animation called cryptobiosis..............
Don’t worry—this isn’t a Walking Dead situation. The undead organisms in questions are called bdelloid rotifers, or microscopic “wheel animals” named for their circular mouths surrounded by tiny hairs. Like the more charismatic tardigrade, bdelloid rotifers are extremophiles—organisms that can withstand astonishing conditions like red-hot undersea vents or the vacuum of space.
For this experiment, the scientists went to Siberia and carved off a slice of permafrost, the term for ground that permanently stays frozen. This particular area has been frozen since at least the end of the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).
The scientists took the frozen rotifers and thawed them gently, at which point the rotifers began to just live their lives again, including their characteristic asexual reproduction. The secret of the rotifers’ success is a state of suspended animation called cryptobiosis..............
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