The Genetics of Chernobyl's Dogs

March 3, 2023 5:07 PM

Today, we're following up on previous and previouslier stories about the pet dogs left behind after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. "In the first genetic study of any large mammal in the area around Chernobyl, DNA collected from feral dogs living near the power plant today reveals that they are the descendants of dogs that were either present at the time of the accident or that settled in the area shortly afterwards."
posted by bryon (21 comments total)

[W]ith fewer tourists visiting and leaving food scraps, Chernobyl’s dogs are struggling to get by.

Huh. Is this like a deliberate thing that tourists would do, or were there so many tourists that their incidental food scraps could support a population of hundreds of dogs?
posted by Not A Thing at 5:30 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

I would suspect a little of both. I’m not sure I wouldn’t be able to resist feeding the dogs but I’m a soft touch for the pooches
posted by drewbage1847 at 7:25 PM on March 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

There was at least SOME Exclusion Zone tourism. Some people even were permitted to move back. Mostly older people who can’t have children anymore.
They subsist by farming. Not only are feral dogs and cats present, wild animals like wolves, foxes, European bison, Przewalski’s horse, bears, deer are present in decent numbers.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 7:39 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Nuclear blasts effect DNA?
posted by Ideefixe at 8:50 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yes, nuclear radiation affects DNA. Some information on this
posted by Zumbador at 9:11 PM on March 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Nuclear blasts effect DNA?

Sure.
posted by Toddles at 9:29 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Chernobyl disaster shouldn't be described as a "nuclear blast". It is a nuclear power plant and there was an explosion, but it wasn't a nuclear explosion.
posted by Sunflowers Beneath the Snow at 10:23 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Nuclear and radiation accident

Cause:Human error, flaw design which was kept from the worker by the state.

Feed dogs Russian MRI, often.
posted by clavdivs at 10:55 PM on March 3, 2023

Is that you Hachiovich?
posted by fairmettle at 11:47 PM on March 3, 2023

Does anyone have knowledge of how the aftereffects of Chernobyl compare to the Fukushima "meltdown" in 2011? I am particularly wondering about adverse radioactive effects on humans, and if any studies have been published. This is not just an idle inquiry, a young family member was serving in the US military and was likely exposed when the wind shifted offshore -- iodine pills were not issued -- and to my knowledge the VA has forgotten the incident.

But I would appreciate being pointed in the direction of anything published since the event. Google has failed me.

If this is too far from the brief I apologize and will gracefully accept deletion. I just thought ... if scientists are studying dogs, perhaps their scientific interest and concern might extend to young humans as well. Dare I hope?
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 12:24 AM on March 4, 2023

"Is that you Hachiovich? Is this me?"
posted by clavdivs at 12:28 AM on March 4, 2023

There quite a bit out there but as to comprehensive analysis, I'd suggest askme.

Here's a fair starting point<a
posted by clavdivs at 12:40 AM on March 4, 2023

Thank you, clavdivs.
And sorry mods for the sort of ... wander.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 12:53 AM on March 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is far out of field for me. Aside from iodine blockade ( where you load up on premeasured iodine supplements
for up to 14 days to prevent your thyroid from absorbing and storing radioactive iodine) there is not much for a person or their doctor to do after a radiation exposure, if there are no acute burns to treat.

Iodine in the thyroid is not the only threat, but it is the only remedial action available. I suppose chelation therapy could be tried to intercept radioactive cations.

Basically just check for cancer routinely.

Side note, there is no need to refer to fukushima as a "meltdown" using quotes. It was confirmed to be meltdowns (plural and no quotes).
posted by anecdotal_grand_theory at 1:17 AM on March 4, 2023 [7 favorites]

If there really are wolves as well as dogs, you could end up with a pretty interesting semi-feral canine in a few generations.

A basis for a whole new series of breeds of domesticated dogs, perhaps.

I wonder whether dogs could smell the ozone and other exotic chemicals produced by ionizing radiation well enough to avoid the worst hot spots. I’d bet yes.
posted by jamjam at 3:27 AM on March 4, 2023

My husband and I visited Chernobyl in 2019. I was invited to speak at a tech conference in Kiev, and this was a special trip they offered to the visiting speakers. There were plenty of tourist buses in the exclusion zone that day, and the cafeteria we ate lunch in - just down the road from the reactor - was pretty full. I didn’t see any dogs that day, but we did see a herd of feral ponies out in one of the fields.

It was a strange place to visit, but I’m grateful I got to see it. Our tour guide said that she took groups there nearly every day.
posted by web-goddess at 4:46 AM on March 4, 2023 [4 favorites]

A joke I recently heard from an Englishwoman (so keep the accent and slang in mind):

Q: Why should you never wear trousers from the Pripyat valley, north of Kyiv?

A: Chernobyl fall out.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:53 AM on March 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

Of course the design flaw wouldn’t have been an issue had they conducted their experiment as designed and approved.
posted by interogative mood at 10:20 AM on March 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

In intial trials, maybe but the Chernobyl test that caused the explosion should have been cancelled. Not many KBMs left and the MKER is pretty much on the cancel block.
posted by clavdivs at 1:13 PM on March 4, 2023

See also Babushkas of Chernobyl. "In the radioactive Dead Zone surrounding Chernobyl’s Reactor No. 4, a defiant community of women scratches out an existence on some of the most toxic land on Earth."
posted by newton at 11:11 AM on March 5, 2023

"In the first genetic study of any large mammal in the area around Chernobyl, DNA collected from feral dogs living near the power plant today reveals that they are the descendants of dogs that were either present at the time of the accident or that settled in the area shortly afterwards."

So basically the dogs you would expect to be there almost 40 years after an incident. Dogs are cool, but would have been way cooler if they were possibly immortal dogs from the time of the accident, or dogs that were only probabilistically there schrödinger dogs or something
posted by ApplAuD at 11:28 PM on March 5, 2023 [1 favorite]