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The exclusion zone around Chernobyl is not only the site of the largest nuclear disaster to date, but also a unique biotope – with amazing developments in the animal world.
Bremen – The name is synonymous with the nuclear catastrophe: Chernobyl. 38 years ago there was a core meltdown in the power plant's reactor and the region in what is now Ukraine was evacuated across a large area. The people have left, but many animals remain. Scientists are now slowly researching the effects of the radiation catastrophe on the wildlife there – with some astonishing results. These could also have an impact on cancer research.
As several studies show, animal species react very differently to radiation. This is still significant in some parts of the exclusion zone that was established in 1986 the latest measurements taken before the Ukraine war prove this.
Animal species react differently to radiation in the Chernobyl exclusion zone
One particular change affects a species of frog native to the area, the eastern tree frog. Actually known for their strong green skin color, the animals have apparently taken on an increasingly darker to deep black color over the past few decades Researchers in a study write.
The research team led by biologist Pablo Burraco has an explanation for this: the darker color absorbs less radiation than the lighter green color, thereby giving animals with darker skin an evolutionary advantage. Accordingly, the darker animals would have prevailed in the radius around the site of the reactor disaster. Simply because they resist cell-damaging radiation better.
Mutated wolves at Chernobyl could advance cancer research
Researchers have made a no less spectacular discovery about wolves in the exclusion zone. Not only were the animal populations able to spread exceptionally well. The relatively low levels of radioactive radiation, which have persisted for decades, have apparently led to a beneficial adaptation in the animals.
As Cara Love and Shane Campbell-Staton, leaders of a multi-year study with the wolves, told the US Radio station NPR explain, they assume that there is a change in the genes of the animals, which makes them significantly more resistant to cancer.
“We have started working with cancer biologists and cancer companies to help us interpret this data,” Campbell-Staton tells us NPR. In this way, one looks for possible overlaps that could be used to achieve therapeutic goals for cancer in humans. The company Biontech is committed to its Cancer vaccination on a study in Great Britain.
Dogs left behind in Chernobyl show radiation abnormalities
Even formerly domesticated animals have apparently undergone changes due to ongoing radiation. According to Study on over 300 free-roaming dogs Researchers were able to prove that there are more than just genetic differences between dogs in the exclusion zone and elsewhere in the world. Accordingly, the changes varied in severity depending on how far the animals lived from the nuclear power plant.
As the research group led by Gabriella J. Spatol from the National Human Genome Research Institute (USA) writes in their report, observing animals is particularly interesting in order to gain information about the biological basis for survival of mammals under continuous radiation exposure. The dogs are descendants of the animals that were left there by their owners after the catastrophe almost 40 years ago.
However, the war in Ukraine has made subsequent research a long way off. But that's not all: as the war progressed, there was great concern before another catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. (pkb)
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