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Herminiimonas glaciei (Source: The society for general microbiology

New life has emerged from almost 2 miles under the glaciers of Greenland. Buried for almost 120,000 years, scientists have discovered a tiny frozen microbe who has come back to life.

Dr Jennifer Loveland-Curtze and a team of scientists from Pennsylvania State University said they don’t know as of yet if they were in a dormant state or slowly metabolizing. How could they remain in a dormant state for 120,000 years?? They were alive all along, cryogenically frozen.

“We were able to recover it and get it to grow in our laboratory,” said Jean Brenchley of Pennsylvania State University. “It was viable.”

Alive and well are tiny purple-brown microbes named Herminiimonas glaciei, which were brought to life by incubating samples at 36 degrees Fahrenheit for seven months, then four months at 41 degrees Fahrenheit.

Such cold and extreme conditions are similar to other planets and can provide clues into extraterrestrial life.  ”The exceptionally low temperatures can preserve cells and nucleic acids for even millions of years”, said Dr Jennifer Loveland-Curtze.

H Glaciei bacterias are about 10 to 50 times smaller than most bacterias such as E Coli. Maybe its size helped it survive, there are many speculations out there but no one knows for sure.

Too bad cryogenics is not an option for us mortals at this time as scientists are still unable to revive human cells. Maybe one day, hundreds of years from now, science will be able to preserve and revive human organs even brain after they have been frozen for many years instead of minutes. But what about the soul?

If we believe that soul cannot be revived then these organisms were never dead, they were only in a dormant state for 120,000 years which is pretty amazing.

Comments anyone?