Mushrooms and worms that do not react to radiation were found in Chornobyl. Photo

Foreign researchers have discovered mushrooms and worms in Chornobyl that do not react to radiation. The ability to survive in the exclusion zone is evidence of how life can emerge even in the harshest, most extreme conditions.

DailyMail reports that a fungus at the Chornobyl accident site has begun to "feed" on levels of radiation that would be fatal to most life forms. And microscopic worms live in a highly radioactive environment with absolutely no radiation damage, ScienceAlert writes.

After the explosion at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, an exclusion zone for people was formed around it. However, this territory has become a strange radioactive reserve with an area of 2600 square kilometers, home to a huge variety of animals, scientists say.

A special kind of fungus

Within the immediate vicinity of Reactor 4, where the explosion occurred, researchers are finding signs of life. It is sladosporium sphaerospermum, a very resistant black fungus that scientists have observed growing directly on the walls of the notorious reactor.

Scientists studying the fungus have discovered that it has adapted to use radiation as an energy source, much like plants get energy from the sun.

According to the researchers, C. sphaerospermum gets its super ability to absorb radiation from melanin, the pigment that gives humans their skin color. This fungus can carry out radiosynthesis and shows that it grows faster in environments with high levels of radiation.

In the skin of humans – and many other organisms – melanin acts as a shield against the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. But in these mushrooms, "it does more than shield: it facilitates energy production," said Scott Travers, an evolutionary biologist at Rutgers University.

Scientists believe that they will be able to use this superpower to create highly effective radiation shields that can protect astronauts during missions in deep space. After all, the harsh radioactive environment beyond Earth is one of the biggest obstacles to long-term human space missions.

Living worms

According to the researchers, the nematodes collected in the highly radioactive environment of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone showed no signs of damage to their genomes.

This discovery does not mean that the Chornobyl zone is a safe place, the researchers explain, but that these tiny worms are resilient and can deftly adapt to conditions that can be dangerous for other species.

According to a team of biologists led by Sofia Tintori from New York University, this discovery may offer some insight into the mechanisms of DNA repair, which could one day be adapted for use in medicine.

It is known that nematodes can be extremely hardy because there have been several cases of these worms re-awakening after thousands of years of freezing in permafrost.

Scientists say that these creatures have a simple genome and live for a short time, meaning that several generations can be studied in a short period of time. This makes them excellent model organisms for studying a number of things, from biological development to DNA repair and responses to toxins, experts say.

After a thorough study, the team of scientists concluded that there is no evidence of any genetic impact of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone on the genomes of these worms. The analysis may help scientists find out why some people are more susceptible to cancer than others.

"Thinking about how people react differently to DNA-damaging agents in the environment will help us have a clearer picture of our own risk factors," said project leader Sofia Tintori.

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