Russian Scientists Make Progress on Secret of Eternal Life

A strange bacteria found in very old Siberian permafrost has give mice grannies back their youth, and even the ability to have offspring.
Russian Scientists Make Progress on Secret of Eternal Life
Right: Dr. Anatoli Brouchkov on Mamontova Gora. Left: Bacillus F, bacteria that could be key to an "elixir of life." Courtesy of Anatoli Brouchkov
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From The Siberian Times: Scientists have decoded the DNA of a bacteria found thriving in ancient permafrost, and are now seeking to understand the genes that provide its extraordinary longevity. 

Work is also underway to study an unexplained positive impact the bacteria has on living organisms, notably human blood cells, mice, fruit flies, and crops. Professor Sergey Petrov, chief researcher of Tyumen Scientific Center, said: “In all these experiments, Bacillus F stimulated the growth and also strengthened the immune system. The experiments on human red and white blood cells were also very optimistic.”

The bacteria were originally found on Mamontova Gora (Mammoth Mountain) in Siberia’s Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia, in 2009 by Dr. Anatoli Brouchkov, head of the geocryology department at Moscow State University. Similar bacteria were discovered by Siberian scientist Vladimir Repin in the brain of an extinct woolly mammoth preserved by permafrost.

Permafrost on Mamontova Gora (Mammoth Mountain) in Siberia's Sakha Republic. (Sergei Goltsov)
Permafrost on Mamontova Gora (Mammoth Mountain) in Siberia's Sakha Republic. Sergei Goltsov