According to a new study, ancient pathogens released from melting permafrost have the potential to damage microbial communities and potentially threaten human health. Through computer simulations, researchers found that these “time-traveling” pathogens often survive and evolve in modern environments, with some even causing significant alterations in host species. Despite their rarity, these pathogens could represent a substantial hazard due to the sheer volume of ancient microbes regularly released into contemporary communities.
Ancient pathogens emerging from melting permafrost present a real possibility of damaging microbial communities, and might potentially pose a threat to human health. This is according to a new study published on July 27 in the open-access journal PLOS Computational Biology by Giovanni Strona of the European Commission Joint Research Centre and colleagues.
The concept of “time-traveling” pathogens, trapped in ice or secluded within remote laboratory facilities, breaking free to cause catastrophic outbreaks has been a popular theme for novelists and screenwriters for generations. While melting glaciers and permafrost are giving many types of dormant microbes the opportunity to re-emerge, the potential threats to human health and the environment posed by these microbes have been difficult to estimate.