<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="crosshead">Rare breed</h2>

Prancer is no ordinary mutt. She is friendly, wags her tail and dances with joy at feeding time. But she also lives at the ChernobylThe disaster, in 1986, involved a meltdown at a nuclear plant in Ukraine. nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, one of the most contaminated places on Earth.

This month, new research shows that hundreds of strays at Chernobyl - like Prancer - are genetically distinct from the rest of the world's 900 million dogs.¹ Scientists hope further study of this isolated population will help us understand how life can survive nuclear radiation.

On 26 April 1986, an explosion at Chernobyl caused a catastrophic fallout. It spewed 400 times more radioactive material into the atmosphere than the HiroshimaA Japanese city destroyed by an atomic bomb in World War II. and NagasakiA city in Japan that was hit by an atomic bomb during World War Two. bombs combined. The worst nuclear accident in history, it poisoned all life for miles and created the "Red Forest" - a contaminated wasteland.

Residents within a 1,600 square mile Exclusion Zone were forced to evacuate. They left behind everything they owned, including their pet dogs. Most died, but some survived. They roamed a post-apocalyptic landscape of abandoned buildings, formed free-roaming packs and began to thrive.

According to senior researcher Tim Mousseau, analysing their DNADeoxyribonucleic acid is the material in an organism that carries genetic information. is a "unique opportunity" to learn how life can adapt in a hostile environment. So could these mutant strays save humanity from a nuclear apocalypse?

High levels of radiationEnergy given off when radioactive material decays. It can be extremely harmful and sometimes fatal, causing vomiting, skin damage, hair loss and cancer. are devastating to life. DNA mutates and cells are deformed beyond repair. Many animals near Chernobyl are sterileNot able to produce children. Can also mean totally clean. , develop cancers and have lower life expectancies. Experts caution that a nuclear winter caused by today's bombs would be far worse than Chernobyl or those dropped on Japan in 1945.

Others argue that life in the Exclusion Zone shows us how nature thrives when humans disappear. Elk, deer and wild boar are flourishing. After 15,000 years of domestication, the dogs of Chernobyl show signs of reverting to their ancestral wolfish ways.

Researcher Elinor Karlsson describes this pack of mutants as a "time capsule" from the worst days of the disaster. And because the canine and human genomes are quite similar, the domestic dog is a model for how long-term exposure may affect human DNA.

This is not theoretical. In outer space, humans are exposed to high levels of radiation. And closer to home, Chernobyl is now a war zone. Russian bombing has cut power six times to Ukraine's largest nuclear plant. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warns: "One day our luck will run out."

Scientists still do not know which mutations in the dogs are caused by radiation. However, the idea that radioactive animals have two heads and glow in the dark is a myth. Radioactive decay can create luminescence - sometimes used in watches and compasses. But Prancer does not glow.

However, her fate may be inextricablyIn a way that is impossible to separate or disentangle. entwined with our own. No other species has spent so long in our company. Scientists believe we have evolved together over at least 33,000 years.² And they may still be able to teach us a few things about how to survive our future.

Yes: We have developed technology capable of wiping out all life on Earth. The silver lining to the tragedy at Chernobyl may be that it makes us better prepared for nuclear fallout in the future.

No: A small group of stray dogs cannot save us from ourselves. Nuclear radiation is the least of our worries. Global warming and conventional warfare are far greater threats to humanity.

Or... It is early days for this exciting research and there are many unknowns. But mutation is a fundamental part of evolution and all life on Earth. Therefore we must understand it better.

Chernobyl - The disaster, in 1986, involved a meltdown at a nuclear plant in Ukraine.

Hiroshima - A Japanese city destroyed by an atomic bomb in World War II.

Nagasaki - A city in Japan that was hit by an atomic bomb during World War Two.

DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid is the material in an organism that carries genetic information.

Radiation - Energy given off when radioactive material decays. It can be extremely harmful and sometimes fatal, causing vomiting, skin damage, hair loss and cancer.

Sterile - Not able to produce children. Can also mean totally clean.

Inextricably - In a way that is impossible to separate or disentangle.