Chernobyl dogs may not have mutated due to radiation

Researchers have published a recent analysis of genetic mutations in dogs living near Chernobyl.

From the 26 April, 1986, The Chernobyl nuclear accident is still a topic of discussion and research today. Among other things, scientists are interested in the state of today’s animals, including dogs. The latter for very good reasons, as we previously talked about, Chernobyl dogs have undergone significant genetic changes. It would be logical to think that it was due to the radiation. But the latest research in this area refutes this hypothesis. The article published in the PLOS One is also an important milestone. It helps our understanding of the effects of nuclear radiation on living organisms.

Radiation was not the only factor affecting the Chernobyl environment

“Most people think of the Chernobyl nuclear accident as a radiological disaster in an abandoned corner of Ukraine, but the potential adverse health implications are much wider” said Norman Kleiman, a fellow at Columbia University School of Public Health and co-author of the study.

As the expert points out, it is not only the radiation from the explosion, but also the toxins – including heavy metals and lead dust – that were released into the environment during the clean-up and recovery after the disaster, pesticides (pesticides) and asbestos – and other contaminants.

The study of the dog population living near the nuclear power plant sought to determine whether years of low-level exposure to radiation and other environmental toxins could explain the genetic differences in Chernobyl dogs.

A previous study analysing genetic variants in the genomes of dogs living near a nuclear power plant identified 391 outlier DNA segments that differed between two populations. Some of these genome segments contained genes that contributed to repairing DNA damage.

In the new research, scientists have delved deeper into the genomes of dogs to try to explain the differences.

The reproductive cells of Chernobyl dogs were tested

The analysis showed that the genetics of urban dogs in Chernobyl were very similar to dog populations in Russia, Poland and surrounding areas. This helped the researchers to use Chernobyl urban dogs as a control population for comparison with dogs living closer to the nuclear power plant.

They mainly looked at abnormalities in the DNA of reproductive cells, which is passed from parents to offspring. Although more than 30 years have passed since the ’86 disaster. So, today’s dogs are many generations removed from their ancestors at the time of the explosion. And the mutations could still be detected today if they were to increase the chances of survival. Therefore, if the radiation had caused a mutation that increased the survival rate of the dogs, it would have been passed on in their DNA to their offspring.

However, the researchers found no evidence of this. Regardless, environmental pressure may still be a cause of the differences in the dog population.

It’s possible that the dogs that survived long enough to breed already had genetic traits that increased their ability to survive. So perhaps there was extreme selective pressure at the start, and then the dogs at the power plant just remained separate from the city population.

– explained Megan Dillon, a doctoral candidate at NC State University and one of the participants in the study.

So, at the moment it is not known what caused the genetic mutation in the Chernobyl dogs.

However, studies are continuing. And, as the researchers stressed, it is essential that the environmental health implications of all such disasters are studied. The study of dogs as companion animals could also help to clarify the potentially negative effects on humans.