Mutant Cancer-Immune Chernobyl Wolves Could Be The Key to Eradicating Cancer for Good
Daily Mail - Mutant wolves roaming the wasteland of Chernobyl have developed a new superpower that could have life-saving implications for humans.
A team of researchers found the animals in the Chernobyl Evacuation Zone (CEZ) have genetically altered immune systems that show a resilience to cancer.
These findings gave researchers hope that the results can be used to find cures for human cancer patients.
Love and her team took blood samples from the wolves and placed GPS collars with radiation dosimeters on them to get real-time measurements of where they were and their radiation exposure levels.
'We get real-time measurements of where they are and how much [radiation] they are exposed to,' said Love.
The researchers examined the genetic differences between the DNA of mutated wolves in the 1,000-square-mile radius of the CEZ and those outside it.
Love said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing war in Ukraine, she and her team haven't been able to continue their research but hope in the long-term that the mutated wolves can help uncover ways to cure cancer in human patients.
Chernobyl is fascinating to me. To know that somewhere along the border of what's now Belarus & Ukraine, a single catastrophic incident has rendered a once populated area of the world unlivable due to radiation poisoning. My dumb brain likes to think that modern day Chernobyl is crawling with 4 armed mutant zombie people who've been inbreeding for years ever since their stubborn families refused to relocate back when the Chernobyl disaster happened in '86. Now they live in the basements of old, abandoned office buildings with their 2-headed pets, and survive on radioactive rabbits they catch and eat with their bare hands.
I like to think that the zombie people of Chernobyl run faster than regular humans. That their grey skin is falling off in chunks. That the whole place is basically Kensington Ave in Philadelphia except instead of everybody being asleep, they're all trying to eat you. I picture the whole place as a scene out of a horror movie.
Unfortunately, I don't think that's actually the case anymore. The radiation is mostly gone now. And according to a Google search, there are roughly 1000 people who actively live in the Chernobyl area. Idk if those people have fully functional brains or anything, but from what I can tell they're not as "mutant" as we would like to believe. However, recent reports say Chernobyl now has "radioactive cancer-immune wolves" roaming the streets. Wolves that scientists think could help them on their quest to finding a cure for cancer. I guess that's pretty neat.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but using radiation to combat cancer isn't a new concept right? I know chemo doesn't use radiation, but radiation therapy is definitely something doctors already use to fight cancer. I know these radiation poisoned wolves aren't the first time we've realized that radiation can help fight cancer. Yes, it would be a fun turn of events if in the long run the Chernobyl disaster resulted in the eradication of cancer. But I have a hard time believing that what we learn from these mutant Chernobyl wolves is really going to result in anything of substance.
But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the no-cancer-Chernobyl-wolves are going to save millions of lives. Maybe Chernobyl will indeed result in some sort of medial discovery that changes the world. Only time will tell.