Prehistoric algae brought back to life after 7,000 years in Baltic mud

Researchers successfully revived dormant algae from Baltic Sea sediments dating back 7,000 years. The diatom species Skeletonema marinoi was reactivated from nine sediment layers, with the oldest viable cells dated to approximately 6,871 years ago. The revived algae retained full biological function, growing and photosynthesizing like modern counterparts. This breakthrough in "resurrection ecology" allows scientists to conduct time-jump experiments, studying ancient ecosystems and how organisms adapted to environmental changes in the Baltic Sea over millennia.