Scientists have discovered more than 900 species of microbes that have never been seen before. Hundreds of the new microbes were found in glaciers in the Tibetan highlands, and could potentially cause a new pandemic if the ice melts and is exposed to the outside world.
In a recent study, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences took ice samples from 21 glaciers in the Tibetan highlands, an area squeezed by the Himalayas and the Taklamakan Desert.
After performing genome sequencing, the research team found 968 species of microbes that live in the ice. Most are bacteria, but there are also algae, archaea, and fungi.
Surprisingly, 98% of the microbial species discovered are new species that have never been seen before. These findings astonished scientists because the glacial environment is not friendly to life like this.
"Regardless of environmental conditions, such as low temperatures, high radiation levels, periodic freezing -thaw cycles, and nutrient restrictions, glacial surfaces support a wide variety of life," the research team wrote in a study published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, as quoted by LiveScience, Saturday. (2/7/2022).
The combination of the diversity of microbial species and ice that is melting faster due to climate change is worrying scientists. The reason is that if there are harmful bacteria that make it out, it could lead to a local epidemic to a new pandemic.
From the Tibetan Glacier Genome and Gene (TG2G) catalog compiled based on genome sequencing results, researchers found 27,000 potential virulence factors or molecules that could help bacteria invade and colonize prospective hosts.
Scientists warn that 47% of these virulence factors have never been seen before, so it is not known how dangerous the bacteria buried in these glaciers are.
Even if these harmful bacteria can't survive long after coming out of the glacier, they can still cause big problems. The reason is that dead bacteria can still spread some of their virulence to other bacteria they encounter.
Glaciers in the Tibetan highlands also have the potential to be a source of future pandemics as ice in the region melts and flows into a number of large rivers, including the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and the Ganges. These rivers are the source of water in the two largest countries in the world: China and India.
But this problem does not only affect the population of Asia. There are more than 20,000 glaciers around the world that likely have their own unique microbial communities. Combined with the rapid melting of ice due to climate change, these microbes have the potential to cause new pandemics if left unchecked.
