Editing Permafrost (section)

==== Microorganisms ====
{{Main|Pathogenic microorganisms in frozen environments}}
[[File:Alempic 2023 permafrost viruses.jpg|thumb|left|Some of the ancient amoeba-eating viruses revived by the research team of Jean-Michel Claverie. Clockwise from the top: ''Pandoravirus yedoma''; ''Pandoravirus mammoth'' and ''Megavirus mammoth''; ''Cedratvirus lena''; ''Pithovirus mammoth''; ''Megavirus mammoth''; ''Pacmanvirus lupus''.<ref name="Alempic2023" />]]

Bacteria are known for being able to [[Dormancy#Bacteria|remain dormant]] to survive adverse conditions, and [[viruses]] are not metabolically active outside of host cells in the first place. This has motivated concerns that permafrost thaw could free previously unknown microorganisms, which may be capable of infecting either humans or important livestock and [[crops]], potentially resulting in damaging epidemics or [[pandemic]]s.<ref name="Alempic2023">{{Cite journal|last1=Alempic|first1=Jean-Marie|last2=Lartigue|first2=Audrey |last3=Goncharov|first3=Artemiy|last4=Grosse|first4=Guido|last5=Strauss |first5=Jens|last6=Tikhonov|first6=Alexey N. |last7=Fedorov|first7=Alexander N.|last8=Poirot|first8=Olivier|last9=Legendre|first9=Matthieu |last10=Santini|first10=Sébastien |last11=Abergel|first11=Chantal |last12=Claverie |first12=Jean-Michel |date=18 February 2023|title=An Update on Eukaryotic Viruses Revived from Ancient Permafrost |journal=Viruses|volume=15|issue=2|page=564 |doi=10.3390/v15020564 |pmid=36851778 |pmc=9958942 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Alund2023">{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/03/09/zombie-virus-frozen-permafrost-revived-after-50-000-years/11434218002/|title=Scientists revive 'zombie virus' that was frozen for nearly 50,000 years |first1=Natalie Neysa |last1=Alund |date=9 March 2023 |website=[[USA Today]] |access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref> Further, some scientists argue that [[horizontal gene transfer]] could occur between the older, formerly frozen bacteria, and modern ones, and one outcome could be the introduction of novel [[antibiotic resistance]] genes into the [[genome]] of current pathogens, exacerbating what is already expected to become a difficult issue in the future.<ref name="Sajjad2020">{{Cite journal|last1=Sajjad|first1=Wasim |last2=Rafiq |first2=Muhammad |last3=Din|first3=Ghufranud|last4=Hasan|first4=Fariha |last5=Iqbal|first5=Awais |last6=Zada|first6=Sahib|last7=Ali|first7=Barkat|last8=Hayat|first8=Muhammad |last9=Irfan|first9=Muhammad|last10=Kang|first10=Shichang |date=15 September 2020|title=Resurrection of inactive microbes and resistome present in the natural frozen world: Reality or myth? |journal=Science of the Total Environment|volume=735 |page=139275 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139275|pmid=32480145 |bibcode=2020ScTEn.73539275S |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Miner2021" />

At the same time, notable pathogens like [[influenza]] and [[smallpox]] appear unable to survive being thawed,<ref name="Doucleff2020">{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/05/19/857992695/are-there-zombie-viruses-like-the-1918-flu-thawing-in-the-permafrost|title=Are There Zombie Viruses — Like The 1918 Flu — Thawing In The Permafrost? |first1=Michaeleen |last1=Doucleff  |website=NPR.org |access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref> and other scientists argue that the risk of ancient microorganisms being both able to survive the thaw and to threaten humans is not scientifically plausible.<ref name="Yong2014">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2014.14801/ |title=Giant virus resurrected from 30,000-year-old ice |first1=Ed |last1=Yong |date=3 March 2014 |website=[[Nature (magazine)|Nature]] |access-date=2023-04-24}}</ref> Likewise, some research suggests that antimicrobial resistance capabilities of ancient bacteria would be comparable to, or even inferior to modern ones.<ref name="Perron2015">{{Cite journal|last1=Perron|first1=Gabriel G.|last2=Whyte |first2=Lyle|last3=Turnbaugh|first3=Peter J.|last4=Goordial|first4=Jacqueline|last5=Hanage|first5=William P.|last6=Dantas|first6=Gautam |last7=Desai|first7=Michael M. Desai |date=25 March 2015|title=Functional Characterization of Bacteria Isolated from Ancient Arctic Soil Exposes Diverse Resistance Mechanisms to Modern Antibiotics |journal=PLOS ONE|volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=e0069533 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0069533 |pmid=25807523 |pmc=4373940 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1069533P |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Wu2022">{{Cite journal|last1=Wu|first1=Rachel|last2=Trubl|first2=Gareth|last3=Tas|first3=Neslihan |last4=Jansson|first4=Janet K.|date=15 April 2022|title=Permafrost as a potential pathogen reservoir|journal=One Earth |volume=5|issue=4|pages=351–360 |doi=10.1016/j.oneear.2022.03.010 |bibcode=2022OEart...5..351W |s2cid=248208195 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/50s30845 }}</ref>