Chernobyl Dogs Show Signs of Natural Selection, but the Cause Remains Unknown - Big Tech and the digital economy

A study found that dogs living near the Chernobyl nuclear plant have genetic differences consistent with natural selection. Researchers say they cannot yet determine which environmental pressures favored those traits or whether they offer a specific advantage.

Dogs living near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant have a distinct genetic profile, and a new study suggests natural selection may help explain how it developed. The findings do not establish what drove the changes or whether the genetic variants give the dogs a particular advantage.

Published in the journal Genes, the study compared DNA from dogs living near the plant with samples from dogs in the city of Chernobyl, about 16 kilometers away, as well as with other dog populations around the world. The city dogs were genetically more similar to dogs in the Galapagos Islands than to those living by the plant, according to Megan Dillon, the study’s first author and a postdoctoral researcher at North Carolina State University.

The researchers found that random genetic change alone could not account for the differences between the two local populations. Their analysis instead pointed to natural selection among dogs near the plant. Some genomic regions showing strong signs of selection were linked to DNA repair, immunity and cell survival.

The study does not suggest that radiation necessarily created new mutations. Researchers say the variants may already have been present in the dogs’ genetic diversity and become more common over time. Dillon said the population that established itself near the plant may have had genetic traits that helped it endure difficult conditions.

What selected for those variants remains uncertain. Radiation is one possible pressure, but the dogs have also faced harsh winters and exposure to other contaminants, including heavy metals and pesticides. Dillon said these factors can have overlapping biological effects, making it difficult to isolate one cause. The researchers also lack samples collected over time that would show how the population’s genetics changed after the 1986 disaster.

The dogs descend from pets left behind during evacuations. Nearly four decades after the accident, the exclusion zone has also become a refuge for wildlife, with wolves, deer, wild boars and lynx living in the area. Researchers have reported genetic distinctions in some of these animals, including wolves, though the study does not establish that the same pressures shaped each population.

Sources: WIRED.