'Zombie virus' sparks hilarious memefest on Twitter, what is it all about?

A 48,500-year-old 'zombie virus' that had been frozen beneath the ice in Russia's Siberiahas been resurrected by scientists. As the virus has the potential to be contagious, this has generated worries of a new pandemic. As soon as this news of a new 'Zombie virus' gained traction, the Twitterati has starting cracking jokes and pulling off amazing puns on the virus. Here's how internet is bustling with memes:

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What is 'Zombie virus'?

According to researchers who recovered almost two dozen viruses, including one frozen under a lake more than 48,500 years ago, climate change brought on by global warming is rapidly melting the ancient permafrost, which may provide a new hazard to people. Researchers from Europe analysed prehistoric samples taken from permafrost in Russia's Siberia. According to a Bloomberg story, the 13 new diseases, which they resurrected and labelled as "zombie viruses," continued to be contagious despite spending many millennia frozen in the earth.

The previous record?

The oldest, known as Pandoravirus Yedoma, this virus has an estimated age of 48,500 years. The previous record was held by a virus discovered by the same scientists in 2013 which had an age of 30,000 years.

Climate change waking up these hybernating viruses?

Scientists have long warned that the thawing of permafrost due to atmospheric warming will worsen climate change by freeing previously trapped greenhouse gases like methane. But its effect on dormant pathogens is less well understood.The team of researchers from Russia, Germany, and France said the biological risk of reanimating the viruses they studied was "totally negligible" due to the strains they targeted, mainly those capable of infecting amoeba microbes. The potential revival of a virus that could infect animals or humans is much more problematic, they said, warning that their work can be extrapolated to show the danger is real.

The thawing of permafrost brought on by climate warming has long been predicted by scientists to accelerate climate change by releasing methane and other previously contained greenhouse gases. Less is known about its impact on dormant pathogens. The team of researchers from Russia, Germany, and France said the biological danger of reanimating the viruses they analysed was "totally negligible." They cautioned that their findings may be expanded to indicate the threat is genuine, saying that the potential revival of the virus that might infect humans or animals is considerably more serious.
The reserachers in an article wrote which is yet to be peer-reviewed said, "It is thus likely that ancient permafrost will release these unknown viruses upon thawing," as per Bloomberg.