218
submitted 9 months ago by stopthatgirl7@kbin.social to c/news@lemmy.world

The wolves are exposed to cancer-causing radiation as they roam the wastelands of the abandoned city - with researchers finding part of their genetic information seems resilient to increased risk of the disease.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Wooster@startrek.website 23 points 9 months ago

The researchers discovered that Chernobyl wolves are exposed to upwards of 11.28 millirem of radiation every day for their entire lives - which is more than six times the legal safety limit for a human.

Ms Love found the wolves have altered immune systems similar to cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment, but more significantly she also identified specific parts of the animals' genetic information that seemed resilient to increased cancer risk.

[-] gregorum@lemm.ee 16 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

So, is it that they have adapted to the radiation, or that they’re more resistant to cancer? What is the biological and or medical differentiation between these two things, because the article doesn’t really explain that.

I mean, I understand if the answer is, “yes,” but there must be a more meaningful different different differentiation between these two processes. I know I’m asking as a lay person, but is there anyone here who can explain this a little more clearly for the rest of us?

[-] scratchee@feddit.uk 7 points 9 months ago

Is there a difference between the 2? If cancer is the main side effect of this level of radiation exposure, then being more resistant to cancer is also being more adapted to radiation.

[-] Wooster@startrek.website 6 points 9 months ago

Say you did a study that discovered that folks who actively run are statistically unlikely to have respiratory issues. How much of that is because being physically active acts as a kind of preventative maintenance vs how much of that is a kind of self culling, where folks with respiratory issues are unlikely to seek exercise.

The end result is ultimately the same, but the mechanics behind why are different.

Is the wolves’ natural cancer resistance just kicking into over drive, or is natural selection happening?

[-] gsfraley@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

I guess it comes down to the transition point. If they've adapted in that they're resistant to cancer developing or spreading in general, that has implications on what can be done to make humans resistant. If instead they've adapted to be less likely to get cancer from radiation levels that high, it's less useful, since most people generally aren't exposed to those levels.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2024
218 points (97.8% liked)

News

23296 readers
1158 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS