Mutant Wolves Roaming Chernobyl Have Developed Resistance To Cancer

A team of researchers studying animals inside the irradiated Chernobyl Evacuation Zone since 2014 discovered that the wolves in the area developed a resistance to cancer.

Cara Love, an evolutionary biologist and ecotoxicologist in Shane Campbell-Staton's lab at Princeton University wanted to know how the wolves managed to survive in the area, where radiation levels remain extremely high, 38 years after the nuclear meltdown. 

The wolves living in the area are exposed to more than 11.28 millirem of radiation every day, which is six times greater than the legal safety limit for humans.

Love discovered that wolves living within the Evacuation Zone have different immune systems compared to wolves not exposed to high levels of radiation. She noticed that the immune systems of the mutated wolves were similar to the immune systems of humans undergoing radiation treatment.

Upon further study, Love and her colleagues were able to identify specific regions of the wolves' genome that are resilient to cancer. They hope that what they learn from the wolves can be used to create new cancer treatments in humans.

Unfortunately, their research has hit a roadblock due to the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.