{"id":19780,"date":"2023-04-02T04:43:44","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T04:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=19780"},"modified":"2023-04-02T04:45:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T04:45:10","slug":"the-dogs-of-chernobyl-are-experiencing-rapid-evolution-study-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/the-dogs-of-chernobyl-are-experiencing-rapid-evolution-study-suggests\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dogs of Chernobyl Are Experiencing Rapid Evolution, Study Suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"caas-attr\">\n<div class=\"caas-attr-meta\">\n<div class=\"caas-attr-time-style\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caas-attr-separator\">\n<div class=\"separator\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator-ext\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caas-body\">\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-19782\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Chernobyl-Ukraine-dogs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Chernobyl-Ukraine-dogs.jpg 500w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Chernobyl-Ukraine-dogs-300x215.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h5 class=\"caas-figure\"><em><strong>Darren Orf <\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n<ul class=\"caas-list caas-list-bullet\">\n<li>\n<h5>For decades, scientists have studied animals living in or near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to see how increased levels of radiation affect their health, growth, and evolution.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>A new study analyzed the DNA of 302 feral dogs living near the power plant, compared the animals to others living 10 miles away, and found remarkable differences.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>While the study doesn\u2019t prove that radiation is the cause of these differences, the data provides an important first step in analyzing these irradiated populations, and understanding how they compare to dogs living elsewhere.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><em><strong>On April 26, 1986, the <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/science\/energy\/a36364988\/chernobyl-nuclear-reactions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:Chernobyl;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-rapid_p=\"8\" data-v9y=\"1\">Chernobyl<\/a> Nuclear Reactor in northern Ukraine\u2014then part of the Soviet Union\u2014exploded, sending a massive plume of radiation into the sky. Nearly four decades later, the Chernobyl Power Plant and many parts of the surrounding area remain uninhabited\u2014by humans, at least.<\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n<h5>Animals of all kinds <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/allthatsinteresting.com\/chernobyl-animals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:have thrived;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-rapid_p=\"9\" data-v9y=\"1\">have thrived<\/a> in humanity\u2019s absence. Living among radiation-resistant fauna are thousands of feral dogs, many of whom are descendants of pets left behind in the speedy evacuation of the area so many years ago. As the world\u2019s greatest nuclear disaster approaches its 40th anniversary, biologists are now taking a closer look at the animals located inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ), which is about the size of Yosemite National Park, and investigating how decades of radiation exposure may have altered animals\u2019 genomes\u2014and even, possibly, sped up evolution.<\/h5>\n<div id=\"defaultINARTICLE\"><\/div>\n<h5>Scientists from the University of South Carolina and the National Human Genome Research Institute have begun examining the DNA of 302 feral dogs found in or around the CEZ to better understand how radiation may have altered their genomes. Their results were published in the journal <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/full\/10.1126\/sciadv.ade2537\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:Science Advances;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-rapid_p=\"10\" data-v9y=\"1\"><em>Science Advances<\/em> <\/a>earlier this month.<\/h5>\n<h5>\u201cDo they have mutations that they\u2019ve acquired that allow them to live and breed successfully in this region?\u201d co-author Elaine Ostrander, a dog genomics expert at the National Human Genome Research Institute, <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/03\/03\/science\/chernobyl-dogs-dna.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:told The New York Times;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-rapid_p=\"11\" data-v9y=\"1\">told <em>The New York Times<\/em><\/a>. \u201cWhat challenges do they face and how have they coped genetically?\u201d<\/h5>\n<h5>The idea of radiation speeding up natural evolution isn\u2019t a new one. The practice of <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/space\/a43239127\/space-seeds-on-iss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:purposefully irradiating seeds;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-rapid_p=\"12\" data-v9y=\"1\">purposefully irradiating seeds<\/a> in outer space to induce advantageous mutations, for example, is now a well-worn method for developing crops well-suited for a warming world.<\/h5>\n<h5>Scientists have been analyzing certain animals living within the CEZ for years, including bacteria, rodents, and <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/blog\/wild-things\/some-birds-adapt-chernobyls-radiation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:even birds;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-rapid_p=\"13\" data-v9y=\"1\">even birds<\/a>. One <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/chernobyl-black-frogs-reveal-evolution-in-action-191034\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:study back in 2016;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-rapid_p=\"14\" data-v9y=\"1\">study back in 2016<\/a> found that Eastern tree frogs (<em>Hyla orientalis<\/em>), which are usually a green color, were more commonly black within the CEZ. The biologists theorize that the frogs experienced a beneficial mutation in melanin\u2014pigments responsible for skin color\u2014that helped ionize the surrounding radiation.<\/h5>\n<h5>This made scientists ponder: could something similar be happening to Chernobyl\u2019s wild dogs?<\/h5>\n<h5>This new study uncovered that the feral dogs living near the Chernobyl Power Plant showed distinct genetic differences from dogs living only some 10 miles away in nearby Chernobyl City. While this may seem to heavily imply that these dogs have undergone some type of rapid mutation or evolution due to radiation exposure, this study is only a first step in proving that hypothesis. One environmental scientist, <a class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/genetics-chernobyl-dogs-revealed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:speaking with Science News;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-rapid_p=\"15\" data-v9y=\"1\">speaking with <em>Science News<\/em><\/a>, says that these studies can be tricky business, largely due to the fact that sussing out radiation-induced mutations from other effects, like inbreeding, is incredibly difficult.<\/h5>\n<h5>However, this study provides a template for further investigation into the effects of radiation on larger mammals, as the DNA of dogs roaming the Chernobyl Power Plant and nearby Chernobyl City can be compared to dogs living in non-irradiated areas. Despite a current lack of firm conclusions, the study has shown once again that an area that\u2014by all rights\u2014should be a wasteland has become an unparalleled scientific opportunity to understand radiation and its impact on natural evolution.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Darren Orf For decades, scientists have studied animals living in or near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to see how increased levels of radiation affect their health, growth, and evolution. A new study analyzed the DNA of 302 feral dogs living near the power plant, compared the animals to others living 10 miles away, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[2229,3407,3406,3408,273,3409,3410,270],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19780"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19780"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19783,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19780\/revisions\/19783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}