US study: cancer-resistant mutant wolves at Chernobyl
The animals are exposed to carcinogenic radiation as they roam the Ukrainian town, which was abandoned after a nuclear accident in 1986. According to Princeton researchers, part of their genetic information seems resistant to the increased risk of disease
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Mutant wolves roaming the deserted streets of Chernobyl may have developed a particular resistance to cancer: a discovery that, if confirmed, bodes well for combating the disease in humans. As is well known, in 1986, the explosion of a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine led to the evacuation of over 100,000 people from the city due to the release of carcinogenic radiation. The area has remained uninhabited ever since, with the establishment of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) of over 1,000 square miles to prevent people from coming into contact with radiation from the explosion, which still poses a high risk of cancer. Since then, humans have not returned to Chernobyl, but wildlife such as wolves and horses roam the wastelands of the evacuated city, more than 35 years after the disaster.
Radiocollars to study radioactive exposure of the herd
.Dr Cara Love, an evolutionary biologist and ecotoxicologist at Princeton University in the US, has studied how Chernobyl wolves survive despite generations of exposure to radioactive particles. Love and a team of researchers visited the CEZ in 2014, attaching radio collars to the wolves in order to monitor their movements. According to the scientist, the collars provide the team with 'real-time measurements of where the wolves are and how exposed they are to radiation'. In addition, blood samples were taken from the wolves to understand how these animals respond to carcinogenic radiation.
Altered immune system and resilience to cancer risk
.Researchers found that Chernobyl wolves are exposed to 11.28 millirem of radiation per day for their entire lives, which is more than six times the legal safe limit for a human being. Dr Love found that wolves have an altered immune system, similar to that of cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy, but more importantly, she identified specific parts of the animals' genetic information that appear resilient to increased cancer risk.
Much human research has identified mutations that increase the risk of cancer: the presence of the BRCA gene variant, for example, makes a woman more likely to develop breast or ovarian cancer. But the study led by Dr Love sought to identify protective mutations that increase the likelihood of surviving cancer. In recent years, however, the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have prevented the team of Priceton University scholars from returning to CEZ in recent years. Pending confirmation from further studies, including 'in the field', Dr Love presented her findings at the annual meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology in Seattle, Washington, last month.
