News Animals

What the first look at the genetics of Chernobyl’s dogs revealed

The canines are genetically distinct from dogs farther away, but radiation may not explain why

A photo of several different breeds of dogs standing on concrete.

Scientists have now performed the first genetic analysis of Chernobyl’s dogs. This pack of free-roaming dogs lives within the industrial areas of the former power plant.

T. Mousseau

By Meghan Rosen

For generations of dogs, home is the radioactive remains of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

In the first genetic analysis of these animals, scientists have discovered that dogs living in the power plant industrial area are genetically distinct from dogs living farther away.