THE nematodesalso called cylindrical worms, which populate the Exclusion area (CEZ) of Chernobylwhere it is forbidden for humans to live following the 1986 nuclear disaster due to the high levels of radiation and recently victim of a drone attack on the sarcophagus of reactor 4, they do not show significant genetic damage compared to the specimens grown in pristine environments. To affirm it is a study conducted by Columbia University and recently published in the magazine Pnas. This discovery suggests a form of genetic resistance which does not seem influenced by the level of environmental radiation. Although the presence of radioactive materials involves an increase in the risks of malformations and diseases, animals continue to thrive in this environment so adverse, also due to human absence. This gives scientists the opportunity to investigate the effects of radiation in the organisms of various species. Understanding the mechanisms behind this resistance could find applications in the development of new treatments against cancer and other pathologies caused by genetic anomalies.
What happens to Chernobyl worms: the nematodes resistant to radiation
The study of Columbia University has analyzed the DNA of nematodes (which include the common cylindrical worms in the ground) in the area around the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant. From 298 nematodes taken from different areas of the exclusion area (high and low radioactivity) there has been no significant increase in “Damage” in DNA Compared to the specimens collected in non -contaminated environments (Philippines, Germany, the United States, Mauritius and Australia), used as a control.
In addition to the comparison on the genomes of nematodes exposed to different levels of radiation, the researchers tested the influence of the radiation in them resistence to chemicals that damage their DNA, called mutagens. The results showed that Chernobyl nematodes They were not more resistant to mutagens compared to those coming from unnaminated environments.
Overall, the results are surprising: given the high mutagenic potential of radiation, we would have expected to find a DNA in the nematodes of the exclusion area characterized by a high rate of mutations. However, the data suggest that chronic exposure to radiation has not led significant genetic changes or specific adaptations, which could indicate a particular “genetic resistance” of these organisms, which however would not depend on thechronic exposure to radioactive material. Potentially, the discovery of the mechanisms behind this resistance could prove useful to help us understand why some individuals are more sensitive to certain forms of cancer and other genetic diseases.
These conclusions could be questioned by a question to which it is difficult to answer: how long have the nematodes taken from those areas? Many of these worms, in fact, can “travel” transported by small insects and animals, a phenomenon known as forestry. This might mean that some of the individuals analyzed may have only recently arrived in Cez, rather than deriving from populations of nematodes exposed for generations against radiation.
What is the exclusion area (CEZ) around the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant
Almost 39 years have passed since the most serious nuclear accident in history. It was the April 26, 1986 When, in the middle of the night, reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, releasing a gigantic cloud of radioactive material which focused mainly on the nearby city of Chernobyl And Prypiat. The next day, about 120,000 people were evacuated and one was established exclusion areaan area with a radius of about 30 km around the control unit, where it is still forbidden to live due to theHigh radioactivity.
Since then, time appears suspended in this abandoned land, where the traces of man are slowly disappearing due to the advance of the naturewhich resumed control of its spaces by colonizing abandoned roads and buildings. Animals and plants, however, are no less subjects of man to effects of radiationwhich still reach in the exclusion area very high levelsalbeit with extreme variability between the different areas constitute the territory.
To give an idea of the extent of these values, the biological damage caused by the radiation absorbed by an organism is measured in Sievent (SV). One of the most exposure situations to radiation are spaces in space, where astronauts are exposed to radiation values of approximately 1 SV per year. In some areas of the Chernobyl exclusion area, radiation levels can reach 10 SV per yearor ten times higher. These are very high values e very dangerous for health.
Because the ionizing radiation of Chernobyl are so dangerous
The iodine-131The Cesio-137 And it Strike-90 they are among the main ones radioactive substances released following the explosion. These elements are all radioactive isotopesthat is, energetically unstable versions of some atoms which, by nature, tend to transform into more stable forms through a process called decay. In this transformation, theexcess energy It is released in the environment in the form of rays called ionizing radiation. These radiation is the real danger, still today, linked to the Chernobyl disaster. The ionizing radiation, in fact, are among the main ones Mutageni agentscapable of change the DNA. The high energy allows them to cross the cells of our body e affect genetic materialaltering the sequence or causing structural damage to chromosomes. In other words, they can induce mutations. DNA is the “instruction manual“Of our cells, which contains all the information necessary so that they can perform their functions correctly. If these instructions are modified, the cells can undergo alterations that die or, in some cases, turn into cancer cells.
