In einer neuen Studie haben ein Team von Geologen und Biologen alte Mikroben wieder auferweckt, die in einigen Fällen seit rund 40.000 Jahren im Permafrost -Eis gefangen waren. Die Gruppe entdeckte, dass Mikroben nach einigen Monaten nach einem Permafrost blühende Kolonien bilden.

I’ve linked to the press release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

Microbial Resuscitation and Growth Rates in Deep Permafrost: Lipid Stable Isotope Probing Results From the Permafrost Research Tunnel in Fox, Alaska

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JG008759

From the linked article:

Researchers wake up microbes trapped in permafrost for thousands of years

**In a new study, a team of geologists and biologists led by CU Boulder resurrected ancient microbes that had been trapped in ice—in some cases for around 40,000 years.**

The study is a showcase for the planet’s permafrost. That’s the name for a frozen mix of soil, ice and rocks that underlies nearly a quarter of the land in the northern hemisphere. It’s an icy graveyard where animal and plant remains, alongside plentiful bacteria and other microorganisms, have become stuck in time.

That is, until curious scientists try to wake them up.

**The group discovered that if you thaw out permafrost, the microbes within will take a while to become active. But after a few months, like waking up after a long nap, they begin to form flourishing colonies.**

Damn, it seems that COVID didn’t teach them anything.

This research is very importsnt as it highlights one more problem we will face as the earth continues to heat up.