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Life out of the Deep-Freeze

April 7, 2014

The ongoing thaw in the Earth’s polar regions has led to the discovery of surprising fossils. In the early 1990s, the prehistoric mummy Ötzi became famous. Now news of a 30,000-year-old giant virus is in the headlines.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Bd6D
Ausstellungstipps vom 31.07.2009 Ötzi in Madrid
Image: picture alliance/dpa

Life out of the Deep-Freeze

Cadavers of woolly mammoths preserved in Siberian permafrost could give researchers an opportunity, with the help of biotechnology, to bring the species back from extinction. A number of other discoveries offer scientists the chance to understand the origin of species - including humans - and of life itself.