Chernobyl’s radiation-proof worms are unlocking a key field of cancer research

In the study, published by the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, NYU researchers found that nearly 40 years after the disaster at Chernobyl, tiny worms called nematodes collected at the site of the disaster showed no discernible changes to their genetics. 

Through a series of tests, the researchers also found that the Chernobyl worms were no more or less likely to be tolerant of radiation than other non-Chernobyl worms of the same species, according to lead researcher and NYU post-doc Sophia Tintori.

Tintori cautioned that the type of tiny nematodes collected at the site (scientific name Oscheius tipulae) are pretty resilient to changes in environmental factors. Yet, by studying the range of resiliency to DNA damage in the worms, researchers can start to deduce why they differ and can then adapt those studies in the future to aid cancer research in humans. Long-term exposure even to low levels of radiation can slightly increase cancer risk in humans, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“We can better understand who’s at higher risk for certain types of cancers or who might be likely to respond to chemotherapies differently, and just have a better understanding of how that kind of risk works within a population,” Tintori told Fortune.

The NYU findings are also significant because researchers are still working to understand the full effects of the Chernobyl disaster. While scientists have conducted previous studies examining dogs, birds, and frogs from the area surrounding Chernobyl, those findings still don’t give us the full picture of the fallout in part because of the biological…