Can the Survivor Dogs of Chernobyl Teach Humans New Tricks?

More than 35 years after the world's worst nuclear accident, the dogs of Chernobyl, Ukraine, live among empty buildings in and around the closed nuclear center. The animals continue to find food, mate and survive.

Scientists hope that studying the dogs can teach humans about new ways to live in severely¹ difficult, unforgiving environments.

The researchers published a genetics study recently in the magazine Science Advances. It centers on 302 dogs living in a government identified "exclusion³ zone" around the area of the disaster. The area has dangerously high levels of radiation.

The scientists identified dog populations that received different levels of radiation. The research found genetic² differences among the dog groups that make them different from one another and other dogs in other parts of the world.

Genetics expert Elaine Ostrander with the National Human Genome Research Institute is one of the study investigators⁴. She said the scientists had a great chance to examine a situation that could help answer an important question: "How do you survive in a hostile environment like this for 15 generations?"

Tim Mousseau is a professor of biological sciences at the University of South Carolina and a member of the study team. He said the dogs "provide an incredible tool to look at the impacts of this kind of a setting" on mammals.

Chernobyl's environment is fierce. On April 26, 1986, an explosion and fire at the Ukraine power plant released huge amounts of radioactivity into the atmosphere. Thirty workers were killed immediately. Later deaths from radiation poisoning are estimated to be in the thousands.

Researchers said most of the dogs they are studying appear to have ancestral ties to family dogs left behind when their owners fled the danger.

Mousseau has been working in the Chernobyl area since the late 1990s. He began collecting blood from the dogs around 2017. Some of the dogs live in the power plant. Others are about 15 kilometers or 45 kilometers away.

At first, Ostrander said, the team thought the dogs might have mated so closely over time that they would be much the same. But the testing of their genes⁵ showed that the dogs lived in areas of different radiation levels – low, middle and high.

It was a major finding. Ostrander said the scientists could identify families" of about 15 different dog groups.

Now researchers can begin to look for changes in genetic structures among the groups.

"We can compare them and we can say: OK, what's different, what's changed, what's mutated, what's evolved, what helps you, what hurts you at the DNA⁶ level?" Ostrander said.

Scientists said the research could have wide uses. It could show how animals and humans can live now and in the future in areas under "continuous environmental" attack and in the high-radiation environment of space.

Kari Ekenstedt is an animal doctor and professor at Purdue University in Indiana who was not involved in the study. She said the study is a first step toward answering important questions about how higher level radiation affects large mammals. For example, she said, "Is it going to be changing their genomes at a rapid rate?"

Scientists have already started on additional research. It will require more time with the dogs in the area about 100 kilometers from Kyiv. Mousseau said he and his teammates were there most recently last October and did not see any war activity. Mousseau said the team has grown close to some dogs

"Even though they're wild, they still very much enjoy human interaction," he said, "Especially when there's food involved."

Words in This Story

exclusion zone –n. an area that people are prevented from entering for safety or other reasons

incredible –adj. difficult to believe; extremely good

impact –n. the results of an event or condition

mammal –n. a kind of animal that has hair, certain ear bones and feeds milk to its young

mutated –adj. changes into another form

rapid –adj. fast; happening or moving quickly

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

6 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。