Ecology of the Urals disfigures animals: mutant mice with Chernobyl genes have appeared
The change in the natural background of Yekaterinburg caused animal mutations, the result of which is identical to the Chernobyl effect on living organisms.
This was announced by the director of the Institute of Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Bogdanov. "The house mouse at Uralmash has the same chromosomal changes as the animals in Chernobyl," the scientist is quoted by Novy Region.
According to him, this is due to a change in the natural background, which increases the frequency of natural mutations. "Heavy metals, radiation irreversibly affect the inhabitants of the contaminated areas of Yekaterinburg," the professor said.
The deputy director notes that in nature, mutation is a common process, as well as natural selection. Every year biologists observe millions of mutations - small changes in chromosomes. However, in conditions of poor ecology, scientists began to more often record cases of hereditary diseases in animals.
Meanwhile, the research of scientists makes it possible to draw conclusions about the real consequences of Chernobyl on the organism of animals and people.
Professor-geneticist Vyacheslav Konovalov has been researching the flora and fauna of the Chernobyl zone for more than ten years. He is studying this problem even now, working in the capital's Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, the Ukrainian newspaper reports.
“For many years I worked at the Shevchenko University of Kyiv,” says the scientist. - Scientists-biologists irradiated laboratory animals - mice and rats. The results were amazing - the animals turned into terrible mutants. “These experiments were kept secret,” Konovalov continues. “But after the explosion of the reactor in Chernobyl, I realized that something terrible had happened - now mutants will appear not in laboratories, but in nature.”
Promotional video:
Note that the real ecological nightmare for scientists was the mice that escaped from the whalers to the Atlantic island of Gough. Bird watchers are terrified that British house mice have somehow mutated, growing to three times the size of a normal mouse, and instead of feeding on insects and seeds, they have turned into carnivores, devouring albatross and petrel chicks alive right in their nests.