Scientists find 'key to eternal life' with discovery of 3.5million-year-old bacteria

Microbiologists have called it a scientific sensation after experiments found ageing mice became more active and recovered the ability to conceive. The bacteria was found in permafrost, or frozen soil, in Siberia’s Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia. The breakthrough comes after scientists decoded the DNA of the bacteria and found it thriving in the permafrost. They now want to understand why its genes provide such amazing longevity. Initial tests have shown the bacteria called Bacillus F stimulates growth and strengthens the immune system of living organisms such as mice, fruit flies and crops. Further tests will be undertaken to see the impact on human blood cells, mice, fruit flies, and crops. Dr Anatoli Brouchkov, head of the Geocryology Department, Moscow State University, found the bacteria on Siberia’s Mamontova Gora - Mammoth Mountain in 2009. He said: "We did a lot of experiments on mice and fruit flies and we saw the sustainable impact of our bacteria on their longevity and fertility. "But we do not know yet exactly how it works. In fact, we do not know exactly how aspirin works, for example, but it does. The same is true here: we cannot understand the mechanism, but we see the impact." "I would say, there exists immortal bacteria, immortal beings. They cannot die, to be more precise, they can protect themselves.“ Similar bacteria were discovered by Siberian scientist Vladimir Repin in the brain of an extinct woolly mammoth preserved by permafrost.