Arabidopsis also shares genes with a group of more rudimentary life forms, the cyanobacteria.

ECONOMIST: The Arabidopsis genome

But the retreating ice at Sverdrup Pass, where the Teardrop Glacier is located, is uncovering an array of life, including cyanobacteria and green terrestrial algae.

BBC: Centuries-old frozen plants revived

Scientific speculation as to the nature of the jelly is varied with one of the more favoured explanations that it is a form of cyanobacteria called Nostoc.

BBC: RSPB Ham Wall 'slime' baffles experts