Ancient viral genomes recovered from glaciers have adapted to Earth’s changing climate
Scientists have found that over the past 41,000 years, viral communities have varied significantly across cold and warm climate periods. Massive ice structures like glaciers act as natural freezers, archiving records of past climates and ecosystems — including viruses. A team of microbiologists and paleoclimatologists studying ancient microorganisms, including viruses, preserved in glacier ice are investigating the interactions between viruses and their environments in ice cores from the Gulia Glacier on the Tibetan Plateau.