САЩ: Учени решени на "съживят" 30,000 годишен вирус открит в Сибир

Scientists will attempt to reanimate a 30,000-year-old giant virus found in the frozen wastelands of Siberia, William Schaffner, professor and chair of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University, said during an interview in Nashville on Thursday. Schaffner said the host of the virus is "still unknown" so it could affect humans, or perhaps reptiles. "We just don't know," he stressed. The virus measures 0.6 microns, just over a thousandth of a millimeter, and is therefore classified as a "giant virus." The professor said that the scientists will have to work in "very highly secure laboratories under very controlled conditions" and be very cautious because the virus may be able "to mutate and become a threat to humans." The Mollivirus sibericum virus was discovered recently by French and Russian scientists deep under the frozen soil of Siberia. Its shape, replication capabilities and metabolism are very distinctive and scientists believe they will be able to multiply the virus in order to learn more about it.