Feral dogs living near Chernobyl differ genetically from their ancestors who survived the 1986 nuclear plant disaster—but these variations do not appear to stem from radioactivity-induced mutations. The new findings are helping experts contextualize how such ecological catastrophes influence the environment around them,

Radiation-induced mutation is unlikely to have induced genetic differences between dog populations in Chernobyl City and the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), according to a new study in PLOS ONE from North Carolina State University and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

The previous study found 391 regions in the dog genomes that differed between the Chornobyl NPP and City populations — with some linked to DNA damage r