Scientists warn catastrophic ‘Factor X’ virus waiting to be unleashed, might wipe out humanity

If the coronavirus pandemic wasn’t enough to instil fear in the minds of the public about how catastrophic a virus can be, scientists have now warned about a deadly pathogen ‘Factor X’ that is lurking in the Earth’s permafrost waiting to be unleashed.

"Permafrost" describes earth that has been frozen for two or more consecutive years. Two years is a minimum, and some areas in Siberia have been frozen for over 650,000.

Experts say that global warming is speeding up the glacier ice melt in the polar regions which is host to primordial viruses that have been lying dormant for thousands of years.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

In the last five decades, the Arctic region has been heating up to four times faster than the rest of the world, causing permafrost temperatures to rise by roughly minus 17 degrees Celsius per decade.

Global warming could unleash viruses

Experts have warned that these viruses could trigger the release of extinct diseases such as smallpox or pathogens that once wreaked havoc among our ancestors.

"There is a Factor X that we really don't know very much about," Sweden’s Umeå University infectious disease specialist Birgitta Evengårdtold Newsweek.

“Deep down in the permafrost, there must be microbes – especially viruses but also bacteria – that were on Earth long before Homo sapiens existed.”

"There is a lot we don't know, and what very few people have looked into is the permafrost," Evengård added.

The concerns about ancient virus resurfacing were first raised when a group of French and Russian researchers reactivated a giant virus in 2014 that had laid dormant under the Siberian permafrost for 30,000 years

Scientists note 6 pathogens that can be resurrected

This virus, which has been named a pandoravirus, infects only amoeba. Though it does not pose a threat to humans, the study cites that such occurrences might happen in the future.

"If amoeba viruses can survive that long in permafrost, this strongly suggests that animal/human-infecting ones could remain infectious in the same condition," Jean-Michel Claverie, who led the study, told Newsweek.

"In addition, we know that the DNA [of animal/human-infecting viruses] are detected in permafrost."

Other research has shown that even microscopic animals can be resurrected from the permafrost.

Scientists have highlightedsix frozen pathogens they believe pose the biggest threat to humanity.

(With inputs from agencies)