Scientists revived a “zombie worm” that had been frozen for 24,000 years in one of the most forbidding environments in the world.
According to a study published in the scientific journal Current Biology, researchers found that the microscopic organism—identified as a rotifer—is a small, multicellular animal commonly found in freshwater environments that is known for its unusual durability, FOX News reported.
The “zombie worm” has been frozen deep within Siberian permafrost since the Late Pleistocene, the final epoch of the Ice Age.
Despite their microscopic size, rotifers have complex biological features—including digestive systems and simple nervous structures—making their ability to survive long-term freezing especially remarkable.
The phenomenon behind the rotifer’s survival is cryptobiosis—a state in which metabolic activity in organisms slows to almost nothing, allowing certain life forms to endure extreme conditions such as freezing temperatures, dehydration, and oxygen deprivation.
While single-celled life forms or simpler structures have been revived from ice before, the revival of a multicellular organism marks a major breakthrough for scientists, as more complex life forms face greater challenges surviving freezing conditions and thawing without damage.
This one immediately started reproducing.