Quote:
Originally Posted by billdan
At the end of last years winter in Siberia, the melting permafrost released a lot of Anthrax into the top soil, killing 100's of Reindeer. This has scientists worried about what other deadly viruses are hidden in the frozen soil.
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It's not only viruses that get trapped in permafrost. Ancient DNA can also be preserved. Extracting and analysing DNA from permafrost to map the past occurrence and range of animals and humans is a young field of research that has arisen over the past decade or so; even Australia has a Centre for Ancient DNA (in Adelaide).