Nematode Awoke After 46,000-Year Freeze

In 2023, Scientists revived a microscopic nematode worm found in a fossilized gopher burrow about 130 feet below the surface of Siberian permafrost, where it had remained frozen for roughly 46,000 years. After researchers thawed it, the worm started moving and eating bacteria, then reproduced without a mate through parthenogenesis. It had survived through cryptobiosis, a dormant state that slows metabolism to undetectable levels. Researchers identified it as a previously unknown species, Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, and raised more than 100 generations of descendants.

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