The next pandemic may not come from any bat or animal, but from the melting ice around the world. This claim has been made in research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Journal of Biological Science. Due to climate change, the ice of glaciers is continuously decreasing, due to which viruses and bacteria can be exposed to it. There may be a 'viral spillover' in the world, the study adds.
Viral spillover is a process in which the virus acquires a new host. The host can be human, animal, plant- anyone. The virus infects the host, threatening the spread of an epidemic. Genetic analysis of soil has revealed that the world is at risk of spreading new viruses due to the rapid melting of ice.
For this research, the team of scientists collected samples from Lake Hazen, the largest pond in the Arctic Circle. This freshwater lake is located in Canada. The RNA and DNA found in it were matched with the virus found so far. Researchers said that as the glaciers melt, the viruses present in them will come out and infect us. In the research, the region of the Arctic was chosen because the ice here is melting at a higher rate than in other snowy areas. The temperature here is hotter and the risk of viral spillover is also high.
In a previous study conducted in the Tibetan glacier in 2021, scientists discovered 33 viruses. They have been frozen in ice for the last 15 thousand years. Of these, 28 viruses were brand new, that is, they had never been seen before.
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Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master, it was rightly said. Electronic devices have grown into an inevitable part of our daily lives.
