Frozen for 42,000 years, worms come back to life

MOSCOW: A sample of microscopic worms that were suspended in a deep freeze in Siberia for 42,000 years have come back to life after being defrosted, scientists say.


The findings, published in the journal ‘Doklady Biological Sciences’, represent the first evidence of multicellular organisms returning to life after spending a long period in Arctic permafrost.


Nematodes are tiny worms that typically measure about one millimetre in length.

Researchers from Moscow State University in Russia and Princeton University in the US analysed 300 samples of Arctic permafrost deposits and found two that held several well-preserved nematodes.

One sample was collected from a fossil squirrel burrow near Alazeya River in the northeastern part of Yakutia, Russia, from deposits estimated to be about 32,000 years old, the ‘Live Science’ reported. The other permafrost sample came from Kolyma River in Siberia, and the age of nearby deposits was around 42,000 years old, scientists said.