#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Microbiologists of the Arctic Floating University – 2024 will be looking for giant viruses for the first time; their size can be compared to bacteria. Water samples in the high-latitude Arctic were taken from a depth of 25 meters, and soil samples will also be taken, TASS reports.
Previously, scientists had already found DNA from several genera of giant viruses, including in material from patients with respiratory infections. Therefore, it is now impossible to completely exclude the possibility that these viruses can cause some kind of infection in humans. Some of these viruses were found in samples taken from fossil animals from permafrost soils in Yakutia.
At the same time, giant viruses have their own parasitic viruses – virophages. Scientists believe that the ecology of giant viruses needs to be studied, to find out who they can parasitize and whether they can be pathogens.
Let us remind you that the official sponsors and partners of the Arctic Floating University are the government of the Arhangelsk region, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Russian Geographical Society, the Nornickel company, the Russian Arctic national park and others.
Research on the Taimyr coast over 40 years is now available online. Scientists have found a new colony of kittiwakes in the north of Novaya Zemlya. We also reported that our Russian-speaking news portal is among the eight best regional media in the country.
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Text: Angelika Stepanova, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko
