Scientists discovered over 30 viruses frozen in ice. Almost all of them have never been seen before. [View all]

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USA TODAY
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Ancient viruses were found frozen in two ice samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China – and most of them are unlike anything ever seen before.

Scientists discovered over 30 viruses frozen in ice. Almost all of them have never been seen before.
The group of researchers from Ohio State found viruses with genetic codes that have never been discovered.
usatoday.com
6:05 PM · Jul 21, 2021

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2021/07/21/researchers-discover-28-never-before-seen-viruses-frozen-ice/8042635002/

A group of scientists discovered ancient viruses frozen in two ice samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China, and most of them are unlike anything ever seen before.

The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Microbiome, came from ice cores taken in 2015 that scientists said began to freeze at least 14,400 years ago.

“These glaciers were formed gradually, and along with dust and gases, many, many viruses were also deposited in that ice," Zhi-Ping Zhong, lead author and researcher at the Ohio State University Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, said in a statement. "The glaciers in western China are not well-studied, and our goal is to use this information to reflect past environments. And viruses are a part of those environments."

When researchers analyzed the ice, they found genetic codes for 33 viruses. Of the 33, genetic codes for four of them showed they are part of virus families that typically infect bacteria. Up to 28 were novel, meaning they had never before been identified.

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