24,000-Year-Old Frozen ‘Zombie Worm’ Thawed by Scientists — Then it Shockingly Started Reproducing

. . .Scientists successfully revived a “zombie worm” that had been frozen for 24,000 years, revealing new insight into how life survives in the most unforgiving environments over extended periods of time.

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, which was considered to be the final epoch of the Ice Age, ending roughly 11,700 years ago.

Scientists believe the Yedoma formation — an ice-rich, organic-laden permafrost formed during the Ice Age — helped sustain the specimen in a stable, frozen state for tens of thousands of years.

Researchers carefully thawed out the rotifer under strictly controlled laboratory conditions and were left stunned when the multiple millennia-old rotifer resumed normal biological functions. (Read more from “24,000-Year-Old Frozen ‘Zombie Worm’ Thawed by Scientists — Then it Shockingly Started Reproducing” HERE)