How did scientists bring an extinct worm back to life? Step-by-step process by which primal beings came back to life after 46,000 years (and why we can’t resurrect cavemen)

By William On Jul 29, 2023

It may sound like something out of a Hollywood sci-fi movie: “bringing back to life” a 46,000-year-old frozen worm after digging it up in Siberia.

But that’s exactly what scientists revealed they had done in a groundbreaking study published yesterday.

The experts succeeded in “raising” a long-extinct roundworm from a hibernation-like state known as cryptobiosis, which enabled it to survive the harsh freezing temperatures.

Scientists previously thought that roundworms could only stay in this state for less than 40 years, so the development was an eye-opening moment for the scientific world.

So, how exactly did they do it? MailOnline reveals the step-by-step process by which scientists are reviving the prehistoric Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, while also looking at whether something similar could one day be done to humans.

How scientists ‘brought worms back to life’

THE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS

Step 1. Find the monsters

Permafrost deposits were recovered from the Duvanny Yar outcrop on the Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia.

(*Here I can get an image of a patch of grassy ice as shown at the bottom and a location map of the area)

Step 2. Thaw the ice

Two of the more than 300 soil samples contained viable worms. These samples were stored at room temperature (20°C) for several weeks.

(*Here may I just have a picture of a petri dish on a laboratory work surface)

Step 3. Wake up the worms

As the ice melted, scientists observed how the worms slowly wriggled outward over time, awakening from their dormant state of cryptobiosis. This behavior is considered quite normal for the worms that may have once woken up in the warm sun after being frozen all winter. However, before this study, scientists believed that roundworms could remain in this state for less than 40 years.

(*Please can I have a zoomed in view of four worms moving around here)

Step 4. Keep them alive

Scientists were able to keep the worms alive for just under a month – their average life span is up to 60 days. The worms were given a human gut bacteria known as Escherichia coli and water to stay alive.

To start the research, scientists had to obtain permafrost deposits containing these Panagrolaimus kolymaensis worms.

In 2018, samples were taken from the Duvanny Yar outcrop on the Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia.

Only two of the more than 300 samples taken contained viable worms, one found in a fossilized squirrel burrow and another in a glacial deposit.

These were then kept in a lab for several years before scientists began the testing phase of their study.

They melted the samples by keeping them at room temperature (20°C) in a petri dish for several weeks.

As the ice slowly melted, scientists began to observe the worms writhing outward and awakening from their dormant state of cryptobiosis.

Philipp Schiffer, co-author of the study, told MailOnline: “In general, you just need to thaw the soil, as you would thaw a batch of garden soil that you dig up.

‘The worms thaw with the ground and immediately start moving – squirming – as soon as they thaw.

“In other words, this isn’t a long process, which makes sense since these organisms live in environments where they can normally be frozen for a long winter — not millennia — and then have to wake up and make babies as soon as the sun comes out.” radiant.’

Cryptobiosis is a state in which metabolic activity stops in response to environmental extremes.

Its ability isn’t just limited to worms, as brine shrimp, plant seeds, and even yeast can do this too.

Once the worms were awake, they were given water and Escherichia coli – a strain of the human gut bacteria – to stay alive.

‘Nematodes eat bacteria. Some bacteria will have been in the permafrost soil and provided the first food,” Schiffer said.

Can frozen people ever be brought back to life?

While many of us dream of being frozen at the end of our lives and brought back at some point in the future, this is not yet a reality for humans.

Unlike these worms, humans cannot undergo cryptobiosis, which involves complete or near-complete cessation of metabolic activity.

A group of worms retrieved from Siberian permafrost thawed and ‘came back to life’

In 2018, deposits were recovered from the Duvanny Yar outcrop on the Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia

Schiffer explained: ‘From an evolutionary point of view, it’s much more a matter of where and how we live and how and where worms live.

“It wouldn’t make sense for humans to go into cryptobiosis, otherwise we might have developed the capability.”

‘Nematodes are very small, they can’t run from the cold, they can’t dig deep into the ground, they don’t have blood (to keep warm).

“When conditions get bad for them, they either die or somehow have to ‘rest’.

“These Panagrolaimus nematodes, and other invertebrates such as rotifers and tardigrades, have evolved to survive extreme conditions through cryptobiosis as a means of surviving such conditions.”

As a result, Schiffer believes that “bringing a caveman back to life” is currently a “sci-fi dream only.”

He added, “We need to think more about another aspect of the story here. These nematodes have found a way to protect their DNA and cells from degradation and breakage when frozen.

“Perhaps by studying the process of cryptobiosis in detail and looking specifically at which genes do what, we can find some links with human aging and develop new drugs in this regard.”

How did scientists bring an extinct worm back to life? Step-by-step process by which primal beings came back to life after 46,000 years (and why we can’t resurrect cavemen)

THE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS

READ MORE: Can WORMS Hold the Secret to Anti-Aging? Scientists extend the life of a roundworm genetically similar to humans FIVE TIMES