What Chernobyl dogs can teach us about genetic damage from radiation

April 26, 1986 is a pivotal date that transforms ChernobylUkraine, through its nuclear power plant, the undisputed protagonist of world history as the largest nuclear disaster registered all over the world. What happened forced the evacuation of the population of the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl due to their proximity to the power plant (3 and 18 kilometers respectively), located in northern Ukraine, an area that belonged at the time in the Soviet Union.

before evacuations there were a few exceptions, including: dogs that could not be taken to other territories.

Chernobyl’s environment is particularly brutal. The explosion and fire at the Ukrainian factory released radioactive fallout into the atmosphere. Thirty workers died in the aftermath.

Whole populations of wild animals have been devastated by radiation to which was added the desire to generate controlled felling to prevent the spread of these effects. Some animals managed to survive the nuclear disaster and continued breeding, like a group of feral or feral dogs.

more than 35 years later After the world’s worst nuclear accident, Chernobyl dogs roam among the abandoned buildings around the closed power plant. Somehow they found a way to feed themselves. Scientists are studying these dogs in hopes that they will teach humans how to live in the harshest environments. hostile and degraded.

Today, more than 300 dogs live in the so-called Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (ZEC). The Chernobyl dog population has great potential as a source of information for environmental resource management studies in a resurgent population. The analysis of the genomic profiles revealed that there are 15 different families of dogs in the area.

The biggest of them covers all the places of the zec, which shows that there was dog migration between the power plant and the city of Chernobyl. Animals in areas closest to the plant show greater genetic differentiation within their population. This is the first characterization of a domesticated species at Chernobyl, and the importance of genetic study describing the effects of long-term exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation.

Studies to date support the claim of survival by genetic predominance and likewise protection against the effects of radiation, which is why many animal species, including the dog, have become recovered and able to reproduce after the nuclear accident.

Over the years, the lack of humans has favored the wildlife return and the presence of wild animalssome of them, like the dogs, descended from the domestic animals that remained there.

Some studies have looked at the genetic effects of exposure to ionizing radiation (known to increase genetic mutation rates in various plant and animal species), but it is still unclear how this might affect populations of large animals such as dogs.

The most recent surveys conclude that the present population is no longer the result of the particular mixture of races which survived the sacrifice of domesticated animals in 1986, as well as subsequent introductions and are an example of how species can recover passively and even with notable increases in population.

*Prof Dr Juan Enrique Romero @drromerook is a veterinarian. University education specialist. Master in Psychoimmunoneuroendocrinology. Former director of the Hospital Escuela de Animales Pequeños (UNLPam). University professor in various Argentine universities. international speaker

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