Molecular analysis of microbiota trapped in ancient antarctic glacial ice

Project aim

Ancient Antarctic glacial ice is a potential resource of trapped microorganisms dating back several hundreds of thousand years that give a snapshot of the past. Nucleic acid, such as DNA, has been identified in samples as old as these from Bacteria, Archaea and Viruses, and this will be the focus of this study. Outcomes of this research will determine the type of organisms that become trapped in these ancient samples, and whether they are able to survive such an extreme condition, and may even lead to novel species being discovered, or even new genes and products.