In a discovery that seems almost unreal, scientists have successfully revived a microscopic organism that was frozen in Siberian permafrost about 24,000 years ago. The small creature, often referred to in media reports as a “zombie worm”, is believed to have been long dead.
Instead, it came back to life in a laboratory setting and showed signs of normal biological activity. What’s even more surprising is that it started to multiply after it was thawed. This result left researchers surprised and cautious. It raises questions about how life could survive extreme conditions for such long periods of time, and what other ancient organisms might still be trapped beneath the frozen ground.The discovery, published in the journal Current Biology, is described as one of the strongest evidence to date that multicellular organisms can survive long-term deep freezing through cryptobiosis.
A 24,000-year-old “zombie worm” was found frozen in Siberian ice
The organism is a microscopic animal known as a rotifer. It is not a worm in the traditional sense, but a small, multicellular life form commonly found in freshwater environments. Rotifers are known for their resilience, but this condition goes far beyond anything previously recorded.
As the New York Post reported, the sample was extracted from deep layers of permafrost in Siberia, where it had remained frozen since the late Pleistocene epoch. This was the time when Ice Age conditions dominated much of the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists believe that the ice maintained the organism in a stable state, preventing decay or biological collapse for thousands of years.
How did she come back to life?
The scientists gradually thawed the frozen sample through a series of controlled experiments in the laboratory.
There were no hopes of revival at first, as many organisms can withstand freezing for short periods of time. But after completing the warm-up phase, the organism showed clear biological signs of life. The creature began to show signs of normal biological behavior. As reported in the study published in the journal Current Biology, the organism not only survived, but also began to become active in an unexpected way.
This type of behavior is associated with a survival technique known as cryptobiosis. In this state, the body’s metabolism slows to near-zero levels, allowing it to withstand extreme conditions such as freezing, dehydration, and oxygen deprivation.
Scientists were shocked when they discovered ancient rotifers reproducing after 24,000 years in ice
After being restored to life, the rotifers began to reproduce asexually. This means that they were able to create new organisms without needing a partner. Scientists were particularly fascinated by this because reproduction requires complex cellular systems to function properly. For an organism that was frozen about 24,000 years ago, the fact that these systems are still working is remarkable.
