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. 1996 Apr 25;380(6576):707-8.
doi: 10.1038/380707a0.

High levels of genetic change in rodents of Chernobyl

R J Baker  1 , R A Van Den Bussche, A J Wright, L E Wiggins, M J Hamilton, E P Reat, M H Smith, M D Lomakin, R K Chesser
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High levels of genetic change in rodents of Chernobyl

R J Baker et al. Nature. .

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  • High levels of genetic change in rodents of Chernobyl.
    Baker RJ, Van Den Bussche RA, Wright AJ, Wiggins LE, Hamilton MJ, Reat EP, Smith MH, Lomakin MD, Chesser RK. Baker RJ, et al. Nature. 1997 Nov 6;390(6655):100. doi: 10.1038/36384. Nature. 1997. PMID: 9363899 No abstract available.

Abstract

Base-pair substitution rates for the mitochondrial cytochrome beta gene of free-living, native populations of voles collected next to reactor 4 at Chernobyl, Ukraine, were estimated by two independent methods to be in excess of 10(-4) nucleotides per site per generation. These estimates are hundreds of times greater than those typically found in mitochondria of vertebrates, suggesting that the environment resulting from this nuclear power plant disaster is having a measurable genetic impact on the organisms of that region. Despite these DNA changes, vole populations thrive and reproduce in the radioactive regions around the Chernobyl reactor.

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