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,

Dogs living near the Chernobyl nuclear plant aren’t radioactive mutants—but their genetic differences reveal a surprising story.

Radiation-induced mutation is unlikely to have induced genetic differences between dog populations in Chornobyl City and the nearby Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), according to a new study in PLO