Chernobyl discharge has changed dog DNA
Alterations in the canines’ genes could offer insight into cancers caused by radiation, scientists say
‘Those changes would be helpful for understanding early events in cancer and how to use therapies’
LIVING amid the fallout of the world’s worst nuclear disaster may not seem like a sensible lifestyle choice, but the dogs of Chernobyl may have evolved to make it work, a study suggests.
Scientists have found that strays living in the exclusion zone of the 1986
Ukrainian disaster have developed distinct DNA and behaviour.
Since the nuclear catastrophe at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the area surrounding it has largely been abandoned by humans.
But although radioactive contamination devastated wildlife populations there, some animals survived and continued to breed – including feral dogs, some of which may have descended from domestic pets.
The team found that the strays had formed packs, like wild dogs and wolves, but the groups were living close together, a behaviour not seen in undomesticated animals. The dogs have been monitored by the Chernobyl Dog Research Initiative since 2017, and a new study of blood samples taken by the project team has shown that the animals were genetically different from other canines.
The team is planning to study the genetic traits to determine whether any of the mutations are helping them to survive in the radiation zone.
Discovering how mammals evolve to live in harsh radiation environments could bring important insights into how to prevent cancer in humans, or protect astronauts in the deadly radioactive environment of space. Dr Elaine Ostrande, chief of the cancer genetics and comparative genomics branch of the National Human Genome Research at the National Institutes of Health, said: “We don’t yet know what, if any, genetic differences might allow dogs to survive in one versus another environment.
“Looking for changes in the DNA that have helped one versus the other population survive is the long-term goal of the study.
“We think that is an important experiment because those changes, if identified, would be helpful for understanding early events in cancer, help guide how to use therapies for diseases that are motivated by radiation exposure, and would suggest ways in which we can better protect ourselves from accidental and natural radiation exposure.
“For instance, we know that space is a high-radiation environment, and information from this study could help scientists design ideal protection for those spending significant time in space.”
The Chernobyl disaster began on April 26, 1986 with the explosion of reactor number four causing an updraft of radioactivity that spread across Europe. Two people died immediately and 29 more within the following days of acute radiation syndrome, while the UN estimated that 4,000 more died from the fallout.
Some 300,000 people were evacuated from their homes and a 1,000 square mile exclusion zone was set up around the site.
However, researchers have found that closing off the land to humans has allowed wildlife to flourish, with the area now a haven for lynx, bison, brown bear, wolves, boar and deer as well as 60 rare plant species.