• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Chernobyl’s Dogs Are Genetically Different – But Increased Mutation Isn’t To Blame

December 31, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

In the shadow of the worst nuclear disaster in history, a population of dogs in Chernobyl, Ukraine, have become genetically different from canines in the rest of the world. The reasons for this have always been something of a mystery, but things just got even more perplexing as new research reveals that increased mutation likely wasn’t a factor in the poochs’ speedy evolution.

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986, resulted in the world’s largest release of radioactive nuclides, and significantly elevated levels of other toxic contaminants including lead, arsenic, and asbestos. In the wake of the disaster, around 120,000 people living in the surrounding area were forced to evacuate and abandon their homes. 

Advertisement

As a result, many dogs were left to fend for themselves in the irradiated land surrounding the former power plant and, against all odds, managed to establish a sturdy population that still exists today. According to recent estimates, as many as 800 semi-feral dogs are currently living around Chernobyl, including in some of the most contaminated areas.

These dogs have undergone rapid evolution in the years since the disaster, becoming genetically distinct from other dogs elsewhere in the world, the latest research has revealed. So changed is their DNA profile that it is possible to tell who these dogs are just by looking at it, which researchers believe is a reflection of the environmental contamination they’ve been exposed to for generations.

Dogs aren’t the only species affected by the harsh environment of Chernobyl. Songbirds in the Exclusion Zone (CEZ) have distinct gut microbiomes, for example, meanwhile, tree frogs have changed color and wolves have evolved an altered immune system.

Why is this happening? Increased mutation has previously been identified as a possible driver of this genetic differentiation in Chernobyl’s dogs, but, according to the new study, it appears this is not the culprit.

Advertisement

Researchers assessed the mutation rate and accumulated mutations in two established populations of dogs within the CEZ – one living at the power plant and the other in Chernobyl city – finding no evidence that these are the driving force behind the differentiation. 

The study supports previous findings that free-breeding dogs at the nuclear plant are genetically distinct from those just 16 kilometers (10 miles) away in Chernobyl city, as well as from canine populations outside the CEZ. However, it did not find evidence of an increased DNA mutation rate or increased mutation accumulation between the plant and city populations.

“With this study, we do not find evidence of an increased mutation rate for the Nuclear Power Plant population of dogs through chromosomal aberrations, increased microsatellite diversity, or an increase of more recently derived alleles. Therefore, mutation does not appear to be the cause of the previously identified genetic differentiation between these two geographically close populations of free-breeding dogs,” the researchers conclude.

The true cause of this genetic diversity therefore remains unknown, although the team has uncovered some evidence to suggest that directional selection may be playing a part. Further investigation will be needed to confirm this.

Advertisement

In the meantime, the dogs at Chernobyl present a unique opportunity to study the genetic effects of radiation and may help inform research in other species, including our own. “[They] may serve as effective sentinels for human health effects arising from toxic environmental exposures”, the study authors explain. “Thus, Chornobyl dogs present a unique and valuable resource as models for human mutation studies.”

The study is published in PLOS One.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Singapore plans to improve worker dormitories after virus outbreak
  2. NBA Top Shot creator on the NFT craze and why Ethereum still isn’t consumer friendly
  3. Starseeds: Psychologists On Why Some People Think They’re Aliens Living On Earth
  4. What Are The Chances Of An Asteroid Hitting The Earth Soon?

Source Link: Chernobyl’s Dogs Are Genetically Different – But Increased Mutation Isn’t To Blame

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • No Life But Lots Of Water – Latest Observations From Controversial Planet K2-18b
  • Is The Shroud Of Turin Real Or Fake?
  • Memories Of Places “Drift” In The Brain – Even When The Environment Doesn’t Change
  • People Are Just Realizing That One Horse Is More Powerful Than One Horsepower
  • For 100 Years, A Stable 20-Electron Ferrocene Molecule Was Thought “Improbable” – Until Now
  • “I Saved A PNG Image To A Bird”: YouTuber Stores 176KB Drawing Of A Bird Inside A Bird’s Song
  • The Falkland Islands Wolf: The Tragic Tale Of The First Known Canid Humans Drove To Extinction
  • There’s A Forever Chemical That’s In Your Water, Food, And Blood — And Levels Are “Increasing Irreversibly”
  • “World’s Rarest Bear” Captured On Camera In Mongolian Desert – With A Baby!
  • Alligators Eat Rocks For An Incredibly Smart Reason
  • New Study Raises “Disturbing Prospect” About Alien Civilizations Using Dyson Swarms
  • The Khamar-Daban Incident Is So Strange It Is Known As “Buryatia’s Dyatlov Pass”
  • Zebroids, Zeedonks, Zorses, Zonies: Welcome To The World Of Zebra Hybrids
  • How Far Into The Universe Can You See With Your Naked Eye?
  • “Rarest Baryon Decay Ever Observed So Far” Found In Experiment That Wasn’t Even Looking For It
  • Scientists “Read Minds” By Opening The Brain’s “Filing Cabinet” Of Memories
  • 4,000-Year-Old Ancient Egyptian Handprint Discovered On “Soul House” Tomb Offering
  • Dogs Can Smell Parkinson’s Disease Years Before Symptoms Appear With Incredible Accuracy
  • The Longest-Reigning Monarch
  • Adorable Boxer Crabs Filmed “Cloning” Their Living Anemone Gloves For The First Time
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version