Zombie Virus, Back From the Brink, Bad Cholesterol

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Science

4.6 • 963 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2023

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today you’ll learn about a zombie virus recovered from the arctic permafrost and brought back to life, some good news about 26 Australian animal species that have been brought back from the brink, and how a new pill could potentially limit the levels of “bad” cholesterol in the body.

Zombie Virus

“Scientists have revived a ‘zombie’ virus that spent 48,500 years frozen in permafrost.” By Katie Hunt. 2023.
- https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/08/world/permafrost-virus-risk-climate-scn/index.html
“Arctic permafrost is thawing rapidly. It affects us all.” By Katie Hunt. 2022.
- https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/12/world/permafrost-climate-change-explainer-scn/index.html

Back From the Brink

“Researchers find 26 Australian species recovered from the brink of extinction.” abc.net. 2023.
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-24/australian-animals-no-longer-meet-criteria-as-threatened-species/102020276
“Lights at the end of the tunnel: The incidence and characteristics of recovery for Australian threatened animals.” by Woinarski, et al. 2023.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320723000460
“Humpback whales no longer listed as endangered after major recovery.” by Claudia Long. 2022.
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-26/humpback-whales-no-longer-listed-as-endangered/100862644
“Red List: Summary Statistics.” n.a. N.d.
- https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/summary-statistics

Bad Cholesterol

“Oral pill cuts bad cholesterol by 60% in phase 2 clinical trial” By Michael Irving
- https://newatlas.com/medical/oral-pill-bad-cholesterol-phase-2-clinical-trial/
“Efficacy and safety of the oral PCSK9 inhibitor MK-0616: a phase 2b randomized controlled trial” by Christie M. Ballantyne et al.
- https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2023.02.018
“What Is the Difference Between Good and Bad Cholesterol?” by Keck Medicine of USC
- https://www.keckmedicine.org/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-good-and-bad-cholesterol/#:~:text=As%20a%20general%20rule%2C%20HDL,cholesterol%20directly%20to%20your%20arteries.
“Coronary artery disease” by Mayo Clinic
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronary-artery-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350613#:~:text=If%20there's%20too%20much%20cholesterol,blood%20flow%20through%20an%20artery.
“PCSK9 gene” by MedLine Plus
- https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/gene/pcsk9/#:~:text=The%20PCSK9%20protein%20controls%20the,in%20regulating%20blood%20cholesterol%20levels.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery.
0:09.0	Time flies when you're learning super cool stuff.
0:11.0	I'm Nate.
0:12.0	And I'm Kali. If you're dropping in for the first time, welcome to Curiosity where we aim to blow
0:15.8	your mind by helping you to grow your mind. If you're a loyal listener, welcome back.
0:19.7	Today you'll learn about a zombie virus recovered from the Arctic permafrost and brought back to life.
0:26.1	Some good news about 26 Australian animal species that have been brought back from the brink
0:31.5	and how a new pill could potentially limit the levels of bad
0:34.7	cholesterol in the body. Without further ado, let's satisfy some curiosity.
0:39.2	Hey Nate, can we talk about zombie viruses? We can, but that doesn't mean that we have to if you ask me.
0:45.2	Do we have to?
0:47.2	We kind of do, yes.
0:48.8	And it's not just because it's a super cool segment for the podcast,
0:51.8	but because scientists have started finding ancient viruses and melting Arctic permafrost and bringing them back to life.
0:58.3	You're kidding me, right?
0:59.9	No, I kind of wish I was. Jean-Michel Cleverie, an emeritus professor of Medicine and Genomics in Marseille, France, has been finding and studying viruses frozen in the permafrost since 2014.
1:12.0	He and his team inserted a 30,000 year old virus into
1:15.2	cultured cells, so just cells that are designed to live in the laboratory environment, which
1:20.1	revived it. They did it again in 2015 and have recently published research in the journal
1:25.5	Viruses showing that several new strains that were gathered in different locations across
1:29.4	Siberia could infect cultured amoeba cells which is important because this proves
1:33.8	it's not just a one-off successful experiment. In case you don't know an ameba cell
	...

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