{"id":330854,"date":"2025-08-09T15:25:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T15:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/330854\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T15:25:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T15:25:12","slug":"almost-immune-to-cancer-and-over-390-different-genes-the-unique-characteristics-of-the-chernobyl-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/330854\/","title":{"rendered":"Almost immune to cancer and over 390 different genes: the unique characteristics of the Chernobyl dogs."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/noticiasambientales.com\/medio-ambiente\/chernobil-un-estudio-revela-que-miles-de-hectareas-pueden-volver-a-ser-cultivadas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chernobyl nuclear disaster<\/a> in 1986 forever transformed the ecosystem of the region. The explosion of reactor 4 released large amounts of <strong>cesium-137<\/strong>, <strong>iodine-131<\/strong>, and other radionuclides, contaminating over <strong>2600 square kilometers<\/strong> and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate.<\/p>\n<p>Today, nearly 40 years later, the <strong>Chernobyl dogs<\/strong>, like much of the wildlife in the area, have developed a unique genetic structure.<\/p>\n<p>The Chernobyl dogs and an unprecedented genetic study<\/p>\n<p>In the years following, the wildlife experienced a sharp decline, but over time some species\u2014such as wolves and dogs\u2014managed to adapt and thrive.<\/p>\n<p>The dogs that <strong>now <a href=\"https:\/\/noticiasambientales.com\/ciencia\/chernobil-cientificos-descubren-un-hongo-que-se-alimenta-de-la-radiacion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">inhabit the<\/a><\/strong> <strong>exclusion zone<\/strong> are mostly descendants of abandoned pets during the evacuation, and they developed a <strong>unique genetic structure<\/strong> due to isolation and harsh conditions, rather than direct mutations from radiation.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-106687\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/perro.png.webp.webp\" alt=\"Link between dogs and humans. Photo: Unsplash.\" width=\"1022\" height=\"711\"\/> What changed in the dogs of the area. (Photo: Unsplash).<\/p>\n<p>An international study published in Science Advances, led by <strong>Gabriella J. Spatola<\/strong> and <strong>Timothy A. Mousseau<\/strong>, analyzed the genetics of <strong>302 dogs<\/strong> living near the nuclear plant and in nearby cities. The samples, collected between <strong>2017 and 2019<\/strong>, came from three key areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chernobyl Nuclear Plant<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Chernobyl City<\/strong> (15 km from the plant)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Slavutych<\/strong> (45 km), where many workers were relocated after the accident<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays, <strong>three genetically differentiated populations<\/strong> were identified.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dogs from the nuclear plant:<\/strong> show high genetic similarity and low diversity, indicating a \u201cfounder effect\u201d or population bottlenecks after the disaster.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dogs from Chernobyl City:<\/strong> exhibit the highest genetic diversity, reflecting less inbreeding and greater population mixing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dogs from Slavutych:<\/strong> possess more haplotypes of modern breeds like <strong>labrador retriever<\/strong> and <strong>yorkshire terrier<\/strong>, suggesting recent introduction of domestic dogs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The analysis revealed <strong>15 distinct families<\/strong>, with the largest one shared among all locations. While they are genetically unique, they share partial ancestry with <strong>German shepherds<\/strong>, Eastern European dogs, <strong>boxers<\/strong>, and <strong>rottweilers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Extreme Adaptation and Disease Resistance<\/p>\n<p>Despite living exposed to <strong>radiation levels six times higher than the maximum allowed for humans<\/strong>, these dogs do not exhibit typical mutations caused by radioactive material. Instead, scientists found differences in over <strong>390 regions of the genome<\/strong>, some linked to <strong>DNA repair<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-99531\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Chernobil.jpg.webp.webp\" alt=\"Chernobyl\" width=\"1200\" height=\"716\"\/> The Chernobyl nuclear disaster.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers attribute these variations to \u201c<strong>natural selection<\/strong>\u201d and <strong>population isolation<\/strong>, which favored the survival of individuals with adaptive traits. This process was also observed in <strong>Chernobyl wolves<\/strong>, studied by biologist <strong>Cara Love<\/strong>, who have developed <strong>increased cancer resistance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Although not completely immune, both dogs and wolves show <strong>lower incidence of the disease<\/strong> and <strong>greater survival<\/strong>, something comparable\u2014according to experts\u2014to the strengthening effects of radiotherapy on the human immune system.<\/p>\n<p>In a hostile and contaminated environment, these animals display <strong>accelerated evolution<\/strong> and how life can find unexpected ways to adapt to extreme conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 forever transformed the ecosystem of the region. The explosion of reactor 4&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[41755,690,81931,267,118864,856,70,16,657,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-330854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-chernobyl","9":"tag-dogs","10":"tag-environmental-pollution","11":"tag-genetics","12":"tag-nuclear-disaster","13":"tag-pollution","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-ukraine","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114999507551119626","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}