Mutated wolves roaming the Chernobyl wasteland have developed a new superpower that could have life-saving consequences for humans.
A team of researchers discovered that animals in the Chernobyl Evacuation Zone (CEZ) have a genetically altered immune system that shows resilience against cancer.
These findings gave researchers hope that the results could be used to find treatments for human cancer patients.
Since the power plant explosion in 1986, people have been evacuated from Chernobyl and surrounding areas to avoid the extreme radiation levels.
The absence of humans allowed wildlife to flourish and thrive in the CEZ, which contains 11.28 millirems of radiation – six times the allowable exposure amount for human workers.
Wolves developed mutated genes from Chernobyl’s high radiation levels, making them resistant to cancer
Animals at Chernobyl thrived and thrived despite radiation levels six times higher than the legal exposure limit for human workers.
Grizzly bears and bison stroll among the trees, lynx and foxes prowl through the long grass.
Beavers, boars, elk, deer, raccoons and more than 200 bird species call the area home.
In 2014, Cara Love, an evolutionary biologist at Princeton University, set out with a team of researchers to understand how animals were able to survive cancer-causing radiation.
Love and her team took blood samples from the wolves and placed GPS collars with radiation dosimeters to get real-time readings of where they were and their radiation exposure levels.
“We get real-time measurements of where they are and how much (radiation) they are exposed to.” said Love.
The researchers examined the genetic differences between the DNA of mutated wolves within the 1,000 square kilometer radius of the CEZ and those outside it.
The results showed that despite receiving potentially lethal doses of radiation every day, the wolves seemed remarkably resilient to its effects.
Analysis showed that some of their cancer-related genes had new mutations, suggesting they evolved to protect against the radiation.
It is hoped the discovery could pave the way for experts to identify mutations in people that reduce the risk of cancer.
The new research was presented last month at the annual meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology in Seattle, Washington.
Cara Love, an evolutionary biologist at Princeton University, set out with a team of researchers to understand how animals were able to survive the cancer-causing radiation
Researchers looked at a 1,000 square kilometer radius of the CEZ to study wolf mutations and hope it could lead to a cure for human cancer
Love said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, she and her team have not been able to continue their research, but hope in the long term that the mutated wolves can help discover ways to cure cancer in human patients. .
On April 26, 1986, a nuclear power plant in Ukraine caught fire and exploded, releasing cancer-causing radiation and debris into the air – marking the worst nuclear accident in history.
The explosion occurred during a routine maintenance check, during which operators shut down vital control systems to test the electrical systems, in violation of safety regulations.
The explosion killed 30 workers and in the following months another 50 deaths were reported due to induced radiation poisoning.
In the aftermath of the explosion, more than 150,000 people were evacuated from their homes, including those from the nearby city of Pripyat.
The mass exodus from the region resulted in a barren wasteland that remains too toxic for human survival fifty years later.
The United Nations (UN) predicted in 2005 that an additional 4,000 people would likely die as a result of their radiation exposure in the aftermath of the power plant explosion.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1986, leaving the area nothing more than a barren wasteland
When the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded on April 26, 1986, thirty workers were killed
For years, researchers have visited the CEZ to understand how animals were able to thrive.
Wildlife such as horses, lynx, elk, wolves and dogs, believed to be descendants of domestic animals left behind when residents fled Chernobyl, have recolonized the area and developed several mutations over the past fifty years.
Researchers found that mutant tree frogs, which normally have green pigmentation, were dark or black and that rare wild horses called Przewalski’s have doubled in population size since 36 were introduced to the area in 2002 to boost biodiversity.
Tree frogs typically have green pigmentation, but researchers found that the species in the CEZ was genetically altered to be dark or black
Wild dogs were also found to have mutated genes compared to dogs living outside the CEZ region, but scientists need to do more research to understand the key genealogical differences.
Researchers from the University of South Carolina and the National Human Genome Research Institute say the populations could increase “understanding (of) the biological basis of animals and ultimately human survival in regions of large and ongoing environmental attack.”
Geneticist and study author Dr. Elaine Ostrander said, “We’ve had this golden opportunity” to lay the groundwork for answering a crucial question: “How do you survive for fifteen generations in a hostile environment like this?”