Opening details

Researchers visited this dangerous area and collected microscopic worms of the species Oscheius tipulae. As subsequent studies have shown, Their genomes were not damaged after the nuclear disaster Species were exposed to radiation at Chernobyl on April 26, 1986, although many generations have passed since then.

Chernobyl was a tragedy of unimaginable proportions, but we still do not have a complete picture of the impact of the disaster on local populations. Did sudden changes in the environment affect the animals? Did the sudden change in the environment select for species that were naturally more resistant to ionizing radiation, or even for individuals within a species?
– says the study’s lead author, Sofia Tintori, an associate professor in the Department of Biology at New York University.

In total, scientists sequenced the genomes of 15 worms exposed to varying levels of radiation in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, as well as five individuals from other parts of the world. Them No obvious signs of radiation damage detected in worms from Chernobyl. These results are in stark contrast to other animals, including frogs, that undergo physical changes after exposure.

This does not mean that Chernobyl is safe. More precisely, it explains that nematodes are truly resilient animals and can withstand extreme conditions. Scientists don’t know how long each of the worms we collected remained in the affected area, so they can’t say exactly what level of radiation each worm and its ancestors received over the nearly four decades.

Causes of resistance still unknown

The question arose for researchers: Is it a coincidence that worms are particularly good at repairing their DNA?

To find out, they let 20 worms breed in the lab and then tested their offspring to see how they responded to different DNA-damaging chemicals.

Lineages (strains) differed in how well they were able to resist DNA mutation in response to chemicals, but there was no correlation between how well the worms resisted DNA damage and the levels of radiation their ancestors were exposed to.

This shows Chernobyl worms did not acquire new abilities to repair DNA thanks to the radioactive landscape. Therefore, we still need to discover the factors that explain why some worms resist DNA damage better than others.

Examining this question may also shed light on why some people are more prone to cancer than others and why different people are more likely than others to be affected by carcinogens.