#ancientpathogens — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ancientpathogens, aggregated by home.social.
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The First Pandemic? Scientists Find 214 Ancient Pathogens In Prehistoric DNA
Shutterstock Scientists have uncovered DNA from 214 ancient pathogens in prehistoric humans, including the oldest known evidence of plague. The findings show zoonotic diseases began spreading around 6,500 years ago, likely triggered by farming and animal domestication. These ancient infections may still influence us today, and help guide the vaccines of tomorrow…….Continue reading…. By: University of Copenhagen – The Faculty of Health and Medical […] -
The #Arctic #permafrost is 1,000 years old. As it thaws, scientists worry what it might unleash
Story by Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY • November 20, 2023
"WASHINGTON — Deadly pathogens lying dormant in centuries-old Arctic permafrost could become the latest threat from global climate change.
"The potential release of the pathogens has seized the attention of federal government scientists, medical professionals and Pentagon officials. Pathogens – disease-causing organisms – have been trapped for centuries in frozen ground across the Arctic, including vast swaths of #Alaska, #Canada and #Russia. #ClimateChange has had a big impact on the far north, where temperatures have risen at two to four times the rate of the rest of the world.
"In one troubling case, dozens of people were sickened − and thousands of reindeer were killed − when #anthrax spores emerged from the thawing permafrost in an Arctic region of #Siberia and caught local human and animal populations by surprise, researchers say.
"Warming temperatures across the globe could unleash a slew of microbes whose impact on humans, plants and animals is unknown.
“'We know there’s #bacterial, #fungal and #viral #pathogens that are in permafrost,' said Jill Brandenberger, climate security research lead at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 'We know that upon thaw, all three of those classes of pathogens could be released. What we don’t know is how viable it is for them to stay alive and then infect.'"
#GlobalWarming #ClimateCrisis #MeltingPermafrost #AncientPathogens