A giant virus which was recently discovered by scientist buried and frozen in the permafrost of Siberia is planned to be reanimated. According to the scientists, the virus known as Mollivirus Sibericum, which gone extinct 30,000-years ago will undergo a reanimating procedure. On the other hand before the said procedure will commence, scientist would still have to determine whether it poses a threat to animals and most especially to the human species. Such process is of great importance in order to understand its complexity and even the nature of the virus since prehistoric viruses are far more complex genetically compared to most viruses circulating today.
From a scientific perspective, a virus is considered as giant if it measures longer than half a micron, or a thousandth of a millimeter. For the case of Mollivirus sibericum it comes in at 0.6 microns, thus categorically making it as a giant virus.
The said huge virus is one of the four types of pre-historic viruses discovered since 2003. And such virus might not be last of its kind, for there might be more to come since climate change is warming the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions making the permafrost not so permanent anymore. Aside from the natural occurrences, human interventions might also lead to accidental discoveries as they comb the environment for mineral resources. Chances are that they might stumble with another giant microbe as they increase their industrial exploitation in consonance with the melting of the ice. So as to avoid such occurrence, one of the lead researchers from France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Jean-Michel Claverie via iflscience, reminded that;
"A few viral particles that are still infectious may be enough, in the presence of a vulnerable host, to revive potentially pathogenic viruses. If we are not careful, and we industrialise these areas without putting safeguards in place, we run the risk of one day waking up viruses such as small pox that we thought were eradicated."
