Chernobyl is one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. (AFP file photo)

A new study finds that wolves living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) have altered their immune systems and developed cancer-fighting abilities. The study further suggests that these animals are different from their counterparts outside the region and may prove to be key in helping humans fight the deadly disease. Humanity abandoned the area after a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1986, releasing cancer-causing radiation into the environment. An area of ​​1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers) was cordoned off and visitors were prohibited from visiting.

But wolves continue to roam and appear to be unaffected by long-term exposure to radiation, according to research presented last month at the annual meeting of the American Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

The project was led by Cara Love, an evolutionary biologist and ecotoxicologist in the laboratory of Shane Campbell Staton at Princeton University. She has been studying wolves at CEZ for nine years.

In 2014, Ms. Love and her team went inside the CEZ and fitted them with GPS radio collars equipped with radiation dosimeters. As mentioned in the study, they also drew blood from the animals to see how they responded to cancer-causing radiation.

The collars helped the team pinpoint the exact location of the wolves and determine the levels of radiation they were exposed to.

according to IFL ScienceCEZ wolves were exposed to 11.28 millirem of radiation per day, more than six times the legal safety limit for humans.

The immune systems of Chernobyl wolves appear to be different from those in other parts of the world. The research team found that the wolf’s genome already possesses certain anti-cancer abilities.

They pinpointed specific regions of the wolf genome that showed resistance to increased cancer risk, Ms. Love said in a statement.

Researchers will now study how similar genetic mutations in humans increase the chances of surviving cancer.

“Our priority is to make sure the people and collaborators there are as safe as possible,” Ms Love said.

Similar effects were seen in dogs living in CEZs.