Washington: A new research has suggested that birds can adapt to the low-levels of radiation found near Chernobyl, where the catastrophic nuclear disaster took place in 1986.
According to the Verge, while going through previous studies, scientists found that birds near the Japanese Fukushima reactor that experienced a meltdown in 2011 had less chances of survival than Chernobyl`s birds, since they probably had more time to adapt.
To test out their theory, scientists collected blood samples and feathers from different bird species in both low and high-radiation that persists around Chernobyl.
The concluded that birds living in high- radiation zones had higher levels of glutathione, an antioxidant that helps animals get rid of highly reactive molecules.
The findings also showed that high levels of glutathione indicated lower amounts of genetic damage in the birds` cells.
The study was published recently in Functional Ecology.
