A new study suggests that the genetic differences between dogs living near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and those in the city of Chernobyl are likely not due to radiation exposure. Researchers from NC State University and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found no evidence of radiation-induced mutations in the dogs' DNA. Instead, other evolutionary pressures or pre-existing genetic traits may explain the variations.
, spewing massive amounts of radioactive material into the environment. Almost four decades later, the stray dogs that roam near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant are genetically different from the ones in the nearby city of Chernobyl —but it’s probably not because of the radiation.
, provides insight on how disastrous environmental contamination affects nearby populations over time. In the recent study, the team confirmed that the city dogs were genetically similar to dogs in nearby regions like Russia and Poland, establishing them as the representative control population to which they could compare the NPP group. They then searched for abnormalities and mutations in the NPP dogs that could have accumulated over time. Germline DNA mutations, for example, are inheritable changes within the DNA of reproductive cells.
In other words, the researchers didn’t find genetic mutations that could have been caused by exposure to radiation. Evolutionary pressures caused by the nuclear reactor disaster, however, could have still driven the genetic difference between the city dogs and the NPP dogs.
RADIATION GENETICS CHERNOBYL DOGS EVOLUTION
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