Jakarta –
1986 nuclear disaster a Chernobyl leaving the surrounding area abandoned. Yet many animal species still roam, even adapting quickly. One of them frog this ‘mutant’.
According to a study published in the journal Evolutionary Applications, radiation from the Chernobyl disaster caused the skin discoloration of the frog species Hyla orientalis in Ukraine. Initially green to almost black.
“The skin color becomes darker because it is located near an area with high levels of radiation at the time of the accident,” the researchers wrote. Yes, the furthest frogs are still as green as before.
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“Frogs that live within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have a darker skin color than frogs that live outside that zone,” they added.
The explosion of Chernobyl reactor number four on April 26, 1986 spread radioactivity throughout Ukraine and much of Europe. Radioactive isotopes can collide with DNA and cause genetic mutations in living things.
The result can be very dangerous, triggering for example death, cancer, hereditary defects, or it could instead be a harmless mutation, or evolution induced by radiation.
But in the case of frog Therefore, the researchers concluded that the black color may not be due to a random mutation, but rather as an adaptive response to protect the frog from nuclear radiation.
“This dark color is known to be protective against some radiation sources by neutralizing free radicals and decreasing DNA damage, and melanin pigmentation in particular is believed to be a mechanism against ionizing radiation,” said the researchers.
Watch videos”The Russian army withdraws from Chernobyl, suspected of being exposed to nuclear radiation“
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(fyk / fyk)
