Mutant wolves roaming the Chernobyl disaster area have developed cancer-resistant genes, according to study

The wolves have adapted incredibly well to their surroundings

A new study has found that the mutant wolves who roam the lands near the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site exclusion zone have developed cancer-resistant genes. The 1986 accident was the world’s largest nuclear explosion and a 1,000-square-mile zone was created to prevent people from being exposed to the carcinogenic fumes that were leaked into the atmosphere.

However, since the infamous disaster, animals have reclaimed much of the area. These include packs of wolves who seem impervious to the highly radiated conditions that are deemed unsafe for human habitation.

An evolutionary biologist and ecotoxicologist in Shane Campbell-Staton’s lab at Princeton University, Cara Love, has been analyzing the wolves and studying how they have developed a resistance to cancer-causing radiation. Love presented her findings to the Annual Meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology in Seattle, Washington recently.

Alongside colleagues, Love went to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and found wolves on who they put GPS collars on. This allowed researchers to access real-time information on the wolves locations and how much radiation they were exposed to.

They were equipped with radiation dosimeters, so the levels of radiation could be measured. Furthermore, they took blood samples from the wolves to study their reactions to the radiation, according to a report from the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology.

The study found that the pack animals were exposed to 11.28 millirem of radiation daily for their lifespans. This is six times more than the legally safe limit for a human being. The immune systems of the Chernobyl wolves are different from those of wolves from all over the world; they more resembled the immune systems of cancer patients who are undergoing radiation treatment.

Certain genomes in the wolves that seemed to be resistant to cancer were located by Love and her team. This research could be key to understanding how altering gene mutations in humans could increase the possibility of surviving cancer, given that many gene mutations, such as BRCA, cause cancer in the first place.

Chernobyl dogs, who are descended from the dogs of the residents who lived in the area during the explosion, could also possess similar traits. However, they have not been studied in the same depth as the wolves. Dogs were shown to have adapted better than other species in the aftermath of the blast, including birds, who saw genetic defects.

The study could also be useful, given that dogs have been shown to fight off cancer in a manner more similar to humans than lab rats do. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, plus the Russian invasion of Ukraine means that Love and her team’s work has temporarily been stalled.

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