Scientists from Russia's Soil Cryology Laboratory have revived a bdelloid rotifer, a tiny multicellular animal that has been frozen since the Late Pleistocene, from Siberia. The researchers placed the animal in a state where metabolic activity drops to nearly zero, allowing it to suspend their metabolism and accumulate compounds that help them recover from cryptobiosis. The rotifer moved and reproduced asexually, creating more organisms similar to each other. This discovery is seen as a breakthrough in proving multicesllular animals can withstand tens of thousands of years in cryptobiotic state. However, as permafrost melts at an increasing rate, scientists are monitoring the situation closely.