The animal is a previously unknown species that may help researchers unlock secrets of surviving harsh environments. A female microscopic roundworm that spent the last 46,000 years in suspended animation deep in the Siberian permafrost was revived and started having babies in a laboratory dish. By sequencing the genome of this Rip Van Winkle roundworm, scientists revealed it to be a new species of nematode, which is described in a study published Thursday in the journal PLOS Genetics.
Nematodes today are among the most ubiquitous organisms on Earth, inhabiting the soil, the water and the ocean floor. “The vast majority of nematode species have not been described,” William Crow, a nematologist at the University of Florida who was not involved in the study, wrote in an email. The ancient Siberian worm could be a species that has since gone extinct, he said. “However, it very well could be a commonly occurring nematode that no one got around to describing yet.”
Published in Plos Genetics (July 27, 2023):
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