Chernobyl Genetic Mutations

["Mercado, Don" <don.mercado@lmco.com>]

Chernobyl Plants Mutate Quickly 

      By JEFF DONN, Associated Press Writer 

      Lingering radiation from the Chernobyl accident makes wheat plants in
the
      area around the Ukrainian power complex mutate much faster than
expected,
      researchers say.

      Their study hints that radiation, including the sun's ultraviolet rays
penetrating Earth's depleted ozone layer, may
      push crops and other plants toward unpredictable and
faster-than-expected evolutionary changes, some
      scientists said. Crops' hardiness, food quality, resistance to pests
and other characteristics could change.

      ``It's kind of a warning signal that we've got to worry a little bit
about plants' genetic stability as the world
      continues to be filled with things that aren't good for DNA,'' said
John Hays, a molecular biologist who studies
      plant mutation at Oregon State University.

      However, the wheat researchers saw no alarming, immediate danger to
the evolution of plants around
      Chernobyl. In fact, the researchers said the wheat plants were normal
in all outward respects.

      ``We haven't noticed these plants turning into monsters,'' said
geneticist Olga Kovalchuk, who led the study.
      She is at the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel, Switzerland.

      The research, published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, was
carried out by a team in the Ukraine,
      Britain and Switzerland.

      The group grew a test plot of wheat for one season within two miles of
the Chernobyl power plant, where the
      terrain was bombarded with radiation during the world's worst nuclear
accident in 1986.

      The Ukrainian government blames the accident for at least 4,000 deaths
among cleanup personnel and an
      elevated risk of disease among an estimated 3.4 million Ukrainians.

      Though the radiation at the study's nearest test site is now
considered low, it is still much higher than normal
      radiation in the atmosphere. People are still not allowed to live or
farm there.

      The researchers planted a second, comparison wheat plot 19 miles from
Chernobyl in closely matched - but
      less irradiated - soil. The seeds for both plots were germinated in
Switzerland, and their DNA was analyzed.

      Overall, the wheat grown near Chernobyl mutated at more than six times
the rate of the comparison group. The
      plot nearest Chernobyl underwent genetic changes hundreds of times
more often than expected.

      Mutations are copying mistakes that happen when reproduction passes
hereditary instructions on to the next
      generation. Some mutations are beneficial, some harmful.

      Kovalchuk cautioned that her team studied only less-critical and
less-stable segments of DNA known as
      microsatellites. But she predicted that key genes responsible for
creating proteins would also mutate more
      quickly than expected.

      Hays said the findings suggest that wheat and other plants may be more
susceptible than previously thought to
      genetic harm from a range of pollutants, in addition to radiation.

      Marlis Frankenberg-Schwager, who studies the effect of radiation on
yeast at Germany's University of
      Gottingen, said it is too soon to say if the higher mutation rate
holds for critical genes in wheat. She added,
      ``This mutation rate is still so low that you need not worry about it
probably.'' 



Donald P. Mercado
Radiation Safety Officer
Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Missiles & Space - Sunnyvale Operations
O/EK-20, B/101
1111 Lockheed Martin Way
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Ph. (408) 742-0759
Fax (408) 742-0611
Email: Don.mercado@lmco.com

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html