After the explosion on Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which occurred in April 1986, residents of nearby cities were evacuated, leaving most of their property. The departure was so quick that some even left their pets there. Some sacrificed themselves, but others managed to escape. For this reason, a population of dogs has since settled in the area known as Chernobyl dogswho now, according to a new study, are genetically different from those living in other parts of the world.
This is not about dogs affected by a nuclear catastrophe, but about their descendants. Some live in the factory itself, while others live in nearby ghost towns such as Pripyat. But they all have something in common: the ionizing radiation they are exposed to for years. They made a hole in their DNA.
And that, on a boat soon, might be good. Despite everything, most Chernobyl dogs in good health. It is therefore possible that dogs are generally resistant to radiation. But it is also possible that they have undergone mutations that gave them this resistance. The next step for these scientists, whose data were published in Scientific achievementsit will be precisely the analysis of how these changes in DNA affect your health.
DNA of Chernobyl dogs
For the study, scientists took samples 302 dogsin the period from 2017 to 2019. Some lived in the factory itself, while others lived up to 45 kilometers away.
It should be said that these dogs live in a semi-wild state. That is, they are not completely abandoned. Although the nuclear power plant is no longer in use, people still work at it. For example, scientists who regularly measure radiation levels and their impact on the environment. All these people are responsible for bring food to the dogs of Chernobyl.
Besides, from time to time they come veterinarians who vaccinate them and check their health status. That’s why we can know that it didn’t suffer much from the radiation. We also know that some of these animals may have been related to dogs in human settlements. However, it is to be expected that most of them have bred with each other.
For this reason, these scientists wanted to see if there were changes in their DNA compared to the DNA of dogs living in other places in the world. And yes, they were. In fact, they had such a clear genetic profile that they could be distinguished from other dogs just by looking at them. sequencing results.
These are not different types.
There are many species definitions. But, generally speaking, they are those whose genetic divergence is such that they can’t play with each other or if they do, They do not produce fertile offspring.
This usually happens when a population becomes isolated and develops separately from the rest. In this case, we might think something like this happened. Chernobyl dogs are different from other dogs and also have important genetic differences.
However, it takes a long time for the two populations to separate to become different types. It wasn’t that long ago. In addition, we have already seen that they are not so isolated and, in fact, continue to interbreed with dogs from populated areas and have fertile offspring.
Therefore, although the dogs of Chernobyl are genetically differentThey are still dogs. But perhaps dogs with a number of advantages worth investigating.
Source: Hiper Textual
