Frozen time-travelling viruses could wipe out humanity

Scientists fear that the icy pathogens could leak out after being sealed in permafrost for thousands of years – sparking pandemics and putting the whole of human civilisation at risk – as a result of global warming.

Boffins from the European Commission Joint Research Centre are concerned that viruses could evolve to become dominant free-living species once they are at large.

The team said: "Some caused up to one-third of the host species to die out, while others increased diversity by up to 12 per cent compared to the control simulations.

"The risks posed by this one per cent of released pathogens may seem small.

"But given the sheer number of ancient microbes regularly released into modern communities, outbreak events still represent a large hazard."

Just last year, scientists announced that they had revived a 48,500-year-old virus that was present in melting Siberian permafrost.

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