Chinese scientist ‘in shock’ after finding herpes virus can survive in oil wells
- Researchers only recently discovered that viral life forms could survive in fossil fuels and they exist in much greater variety than previously realised
- Many of the viruses found were previously unknown and scientists are now trying to learn more about their behaviour – and whether they pose a risk to humans
A scientist was “shocked” to discover the herpes virus in samples taken from an oil well hundreds metres under the ground in northeast China.
Zhang Ying, a professor from the Institute of Applied Ecology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang, found large quantities of the virus in samples taken from around a dozen wells.
Scientists already knew that bacteria could survive in oil, but the discovery that viruses were also present is a very recent one and no one realised the variety and quantity of viral life forms that could be found there until Zhang started her research.
Scientists have yet to identify and name most of these viruses, much less understand their behaviour and what risk, if any, they pose to humans.
“I am still in shock,” she said on Tuesday, following the publication of her research in the journal Microogranisms. “There is so much about the virus we don’t know.”
Scientists have identified more than 100 varieties of the herpes virus – including varieties that can be sexually transmitted among humans – and these can infect a wide variety of species, including mammals, birds, reptiles and molluscs.
