Scientists Revive Worms after Being Frozen for 45,000 Years

Most people have overslept on at least a few occasions in their lives, but when it comes to sleeping in, no one can compete with the recently uncovered Panagrolaimus kolymaensis worms – who were frozen in place between 45,839 and 47,769 years ago before being awoken in 2018.

In a study, published last week by researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, scientists detailed how worms that once coexisted with wooly mammoths were revived in the 21st century.

Anastasia Shatilovich, a Russian-based researcher, first defrosted the worms in 2018, after thawing permafrost revealed the long-hidden creatures. In spite of the fact that the worms had spent millennia frozen underground, they were quickly revived and even reproduced, according to the New York Times.

Another scientist, Teymuras Kurzchalia, learned about Shatilovich’s discovery and contacted her, so their respective teams could collaborate, according to a press release.

Roundworms that were frozen underground, thousands of years ago, were recently revived by scientists.Anastasia Shatilovich / Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science RAS

Kurzchalia’s team was seeking to understand how nematodes (a scientific name for roundworms) were able to live in extreme environments like the permafrost of Siberia, where Shatilovich’s worms were discovered.

“The major take-home message or summary of this discovery is that it is, in principle, possible to stop life for more or less an indefinite time and then restart it,” Kurzchalia told the New York Times.

The initial worms did die, shortly after being defrosted, but scientists say that they anticipated that outcome.

“Sleeping Beauty, when she came out, she didn’t live another 300 years,” Kurzchalia told the New York Times.

Still, reviving the worms could provide scientists with invaluable information in the future. The long term implications of the findings are still unclear but the impact could be far-reaching.

The worms were uncovered, in part, due to climate change melting the permafrost.

“In times of global warming we can learn a lot about adaptation to extreme environmental conditions from these organisms, informing conservation strategies and protecting ecosystems from collapsing,” Philipp Schiffer, one of the study’s authors, told the New York Times.