46,000-year-old 'zombie' worm found in Siberian permafrost is now having babies

The worm spent thousands of years in a type of dormancy called cryptobiosis which can last almost indefinitely. (Image credit: PLOS Genetics)

A female microscopic roundworm that has been stuck deep in Siberian permafrost for 46,000 years is now having babies after scientists revived it recently. The reproduction process called parthenogenesis doesn't require a mate, the Washington Post reported.

The worm, called Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, is a new species and had spent thousands of years in a type of dormancy called cryptobiosis which can last almost indefinitely. During this stage, all metabolic processes pause, including "reproduction, development, and repair," the publication stated.

The discovery, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, reported scientists identifying the worm as an "undescribed species."

The fact that the worm survived for about 46,000 years is not a shock as scientists say microscopic organisms, like the worm studied here, can stop their biological functions to survive even the harshest conditions. "Altogether, our findings demonstrate that nematodes evolved mechanisms potentially allowing them to suspend life over geological time scales," the study said.

One-quarter of the Northern Hemisphere is underlain by permanently frozen ground, referred to as permafrost. With global warming, vast tranches of permafrost are melting and releasing organisms that have been trapped in its icy grip, laying dormant for hundreds of millennia. To study these emerging microbes, researchers have revived a number of these "zombie viruses" from Siberian permafrost.

Last year, an almost 50,000-year-old amoeba virus was found beneath a lake. Other viruses have been located in mammoth wool and the intestines of a Siberian wolf – all buried beneath the Siberian permafrost.

Read more: How an underground phenomenon triggered by global warming is damaging the Himalayas