The population density of wolves in the Chernobyl exclusion zone is disproportionate.
(Film Studio Aves/Creatas Video/Getty Images)
In the isolated forests encroaching on the ruins of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, too dangerous for humans to inhabit, wolves are mysteriously thriving.
In the 40 years since the 26 April 1986 catastrophic explosion of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant's Unit Four reactor near the town of Pripyat, Ukraine, large numbers of animals have moved in to take advantage of a habitat free of humans.
Among those are the gray wolves (Canis lupus), top predators whose population density in the exclusion zone has boomed since 1986.
Now, a new genetic study might be helping scientists understand why.
The wolves, according to researchers led by evolutionary biologists Cara Love and Shane Campbell-Staton of Princeton University, have genetic differences from wolves in other parts of the world that suggest they may be developing traits that help them cope with the region's pervasive ionizing radiation.
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"There may be genetic variation within the population that may allow some individuals to be more resistant or resilient in the face of that radiation, in which case they may still get cancer at the same rate, but it may not impact their function as much as it would, you know, an individual outside of the exclusion zone," Campbell-Staton told NPR Short Wave in 2024.
What we still don't really know is how that possible resistance or resilience works.
"They're just able to take that burden better for some reason. Or it could be resistance," Campbell-Staton said, "and despite that pressure – that radiation exposure – they just don't get cancer as much."
In the decades since the nuclear disaster, humans in the region have been scarce.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation in Ukraine and the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve across the border in Belarus have been declared off-limits to most, with special permissions required to enter, usually for research purposes.
(Film Studio Aves/Creatas Video/Getty Images)
This seems to have created a sort of radioactive Garden of Eden.
Animals in droves have taken over the 4,200 square kilometers (1,620 square miles) covered by the reserves, including wild animals such as deer, bison, boar, and wolves, as well as packs of dogs descended from the pets left behind by the many thousands of evacuees from the towns and villages.
However, according to a 2015 census of animal populations in the zone, one population really stands out.
"Relative abundances of elk, roe deer, red deer, and wild boar within the Chernobyl exclusion zone are similar to those in four (uncontaminated) nature reserves in the region," writes a team led by wildlife ecologist Tatiana Deryabina of the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve.
"Wolf abundance is more than seven times higher."
The work of Love, Campbell-Staton, and their colleagues sought to answer the question of why wolf populations had ballooned while other animal populations remained relatively consistent.
In 2024, they entered the exclusion zone and collected blood samples from several wolves. They also took blood samples from wolves in Belarus, where radiation levels are lower, and from wolves in Yellowstone National Park in the US, where ionizing radiation is at Earth's normal baseline.
They found 3,180 genes that behave differently in the Chernobyl wolves compared to the other populations.
Next, they compared this genetic dataset with human genetic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), looking for markers of 10 types of tumors that humans and canines share.
This seems to have created a sort of radioactive Garden of Eden.
Animals in droves have taken over the 4,200 square kilometers (1,620 square miles) covered by the reserves, including wild animals such as deer, bison, boar, and wolves, as well as packs of dogs descended from the pets left behind by the many thousands of evacuees from the towns and villages.
However, according to a 2015 census of animal populations in the zone, one population really stands out.
"Relative abundances of elk, roe deer, red deer, and wild boar within the Chernobyl exclusion zone are similar to those in four (uncontaminated) nature reserves in the region," writes a team led by wildlife ecologist Tatiana Deryabina of the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve.
"Wolf abundance is more than seven times higher."
The work of Love, Campbell-Staton, and their colleagues sought to answer the question of why wolf populations had ballooned while other animal populations remained relatively consistent.
In 2024, they entered the exclusion zone and collected blood samples from several wolves. They also took blood samples from wolves in Belarus, where radiation levels are lower, and from wolves in Yellowstone National Park in the US, where ionizing radiation is at Earth's normal baseline.
They found 3,180 genes that behave differently in the Chernobyl wolves compared to the other populations.
Next, they compared this genetic dataset with human genetic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), looking for markers of 10 types of tumors that humans and canines share.
(Nzeemin/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0)
Crucially, they found 23 cancer-related genes that are more active in Chernobyl wolves – and these genes are associated with better survival rates for some cancers in humans. The fastest-evolving regions were in and around genes associated with anti-cancer and anti-tumor responses in mammals.
The genetic profile of the Chernobyl wolves is likely shaped by prolonged radiation exposure over many generations, the researchers said. These animals are living in a radioactive area, eating radiation-exposed herbivores that eat radiation-exposed plants, all of which accumulate over time.
Crucially, they found 23 cancer-related genes that are more active in Chernobyl wolves – and these genes are associated with better survival rates for some cancers in humans. The fastest-evolving regions were in and around genes associated with anti-cancer and anti-tumor responses in mammals.
The genetic profile of the Chernobyl wolves is likely shaped by prolonged radiation exposure over many generations, the researchers said. These animals are living in a radioactive area, eating radiation-exposed herbivores that eat radiation-exposed plants, all of which accumulate over time.
"Gray wolves offer a really interesting opportunity to understand the impacts of chronic, low-dose, multigenerational exposure to ionizing radiation because of the role that they play in their ecosystems," Campbell-Staton said.
Wolves in the zone prey on other animals, such as bison and deer.
(Film Studio Aves/Creatas Video/Getty Images)
It's not clear exactly how this genetic profile works in practice. The wolves may get less cancer, or they may have better cancer survival rates, or a combination of both.
The researchers have prepared a paper describing their findings, first detailed in a conference presentation in 2024. The hope is that, as well as yielding insights into animal resilience, this may also be relevant to human cancer research.
"We have started collaborating with cancer biologists and cancer companies to help us to interpret these data and then try to figure out if there are any directly translatable differences that may offer, like, novel therapeutic targets for cancer in humans, for instance," Campbell-Staton said.
It's not clear exactly how this genetic profile works in practice. The wolves may get less cancer, or they may have better cancer survival rates, or a combination of both.
The researchers have prepared a paper describing their findings, first detailed in a conference presentation in 2024. The hope is that, as well as yielding insights into animal resilience, this may also be relevant to human cancer research.
"We have started collaborating with cancer biologists and cancer companies to help us to interpret these data and then try to figure out if there are any directly translatable differences that may offer, like, novel therapeutic targets for cancer in humans, for instance," Campbell-Staton said.
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