Scientists say mutant wolves near Chernobyl nuclear disaster site could hold key to curing cancer



Mutant wolves roaming the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have developed cancer-resilient genomes that could hold the key to developing a cure for cancer in humans.

High radiation levels have plagued the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone since the nuclear reactor exploded in 1986. Humans have abandoned the 1,000-square-mile Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, allowing wildlife to reclaim the area in the 38 years since the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Despite exposure to the cancer-causing radiation, the irradiated wolves appear to have developed protective mutations that make them resilient to cancer.

Cara Love, an evolutionary biologist and ecotoxicologist with Shane Campbell-Staton’s lab at Princeton University, has been studying the mutant wolves of the CEZ for a decade.

In 2014, Love and her colleagues took blood samples of the wolves in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to understand how the animals reacted to the cancer-causing radiation. The scientists also fitted the wolves with radio collars to track their locations and their radiation exposure.

"We get real-time measurements of where they are and how much [radiation] they are exposed to,” Love said in a press release.

The research showed that wolves in the CEZ are exposed to upward of 11.28 millirem of radiation every single day for their entire lives — over six times the legal limit for human workers.

The researchers discovered that the mutant wolves have altered immune systems — similar to cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment.

Genetic analysis suggests that parts of the wolves’ genome have developed some resilience to cancer. Furthermore, there was a "promising" discovery that specific regions of the wolf genome appear to be resilient to increased cancer risk.

"Most human research has found mutations increasing cancer risk (like BRCA does with breast cancer), but Love's work hopes to identify protective mutations that increase the odds of surviving cancer," the news release said.

The New York Post reported, "The findings are especially valuable as scientists have learned that canines fight off cancer more similarly to the way humans do than lab rats."

Love's research has been severely hampered, and her team hasn't returned to the CEZ because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Love's research was presented last month at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology’s Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

The radiation from the nuclear blast may have also altered the DNA of dogs in the CEZ.

Last year, scientists from the University of South Carolina and the National Human Genome Research Institute examined the DNA of 302 feral dogs. The study said the feral dogs living near the Chernobyl power plant showed distinct genetic differences from dogs living 10 miles away from the disaster site.

A 2011 study found that birds in the CEZ had smaller brains.

Like Blaze News? Circumvent the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Ukrainian officials believe Russia is planning a terrorist attack at Chernobyl



Ukrainian officials believe that Russia is preparing to launch an attack at Chernobyl.

In a lengthy Facebook post, the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “stockpiling” the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers to justify a “false flag” attack on the power plant.

Business Insider reported that Ukrainian officials claim that Russian forces are using car refrigerators to collect the corpses of dead Ukrainian soldiers.

The Ukrainian officials warned that Russia is planning to stage a “man-made catastrophe” at the power plant and might use the dead Ukrainian soldiers as props. Ukrainian officials believe the Russian military will stage the corpses so that they appear to be “killed saboteurs.”

Shortly after Russian forces began the invasion of Ukraine, they seized control of the infamous Chernobyl power plant and 20 miles of surrounding land that serves as a buffer zone.

The facility continues to be operated by Ukrainian workers. The BBC reported that more than 100 Ukrainian citizens have been stuck living on-site since the Russian invasion.

Despite no longer functioning as nuclear power plant, the Chernobyl facilities still require constant management and employs a work force of more than 2,000 people including scientists, technicians, cooks, medics, and more.

The workers stuck on-site are forced to live in temporary dorms within the powerplant’s facilities and have refused deliveries of food from Russian personnel, believing it to be a propaganda stunt.

On Wednesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it unexpectedly lost remote contact with the Chernobyl site. The IAEA’s announcement came one day after Russian forces damaged a power line connected to the facility.

Ukrainian officials warn that there is only a two-day supply of diesel fuel left on-site to power the Chernobyl facility’s emergency generators. They also said that Russian forces refuse to let the repairmen and engineers enter the facility.

The officials allege that the Russians are relying on “Belarusian specialists” and that the Russians are planning a terrorist attack while working undercover at the site.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has not provided evidence for these claims.

The allegations of a pending terrorist attack come as the United States sounded the alarm over the possibility of Russian forces using chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Last week, White House press secretary warned of a possible “false flag” attack by Russian forces. Psaki alleged that the Russians might use chemical or biological weapons in this attack.

She said that the proliferation of “disinformation” online might provide the Russian military a pretense for launching this attack.

Psaki said, “It’s the kind of disinformation operation we’ve seen repeatedly from the Russians over the years in Ukraine and in other countries, which have been debunked, and an example of the types of false pretexts we have been warning the Russians would invent.”

Russia Squeezes Southern Ukraine, But Ukrainians Rebound In Northwest Battle Of Bucha

Recently reported Russian successes are discouraging, but not necessarily fatal to Ukraine’s cause.

Satellite Images Of Russian ‘Tanks’ Outside Kyiv Are Probably Not What You Think They Are

Not everything painted with camouflage that can move is a main battle tank.

Louis Menand Tackles Art, Culture, And Politics During The Cold War

With 'The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War,' we have another invaluable contribution to the analysis of intellectual thought during the Cold War.