Evolutionar Leap in the Tjernobyl Area
Torbjörn Svensson Diaz
I have a couple of questions regarding evoultionary pace, ionizing
radiation and Tjernobyl. I'd be very grateful if anyone would take the
time to answer these questions.
Since ionizing radiation makes cells mutate, shouldn't the mutation rate
be significantly higher in the Tjernobyl area than in ordinary places?
Have there been any discovories of new
species/sub-species/races/varities/etc in the Tjernobyl area that can be
connected to the high ionizing radiation there? Is there any research
going on in that field?
Is it likely that evolution has made a 'leap' and that there already are
organisms harvesting ionizing radiation? Or am I overestemating the
increase of evolutionary pace caused by the high ionazing radiation of
the Tjernobyl area? And also, does an organism living on ionizing
radiation seem possible to you? If not, then why?
Best reagards and thanks in advance,
--
/Torbjörn Svensson Diaz
"The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego
ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with
the pleasures of others."
- Bertrand Russell
Dave Oldridge
@darwin.ediacara.org:
> Hello!
>
> I have a couple of questions regarding evoultionary pace, ionizing
> radiation and Tjernobyl. I'd be very grateful if anyone would take the
> time to answer these questions.
>
> Since ionizing radiation makes cells mutate, shouldn't the mutation rate
> be significantly higher in the Tjernobyl area than in ordinary places?
> Have there been any discovories of new
> species/sub-species/races/varities/etc in the Tjernobyl area that can be
> connected to the high ionizing radiation there? Is there any research
> going on in that field?
>
> Is it likely that evolution has made a 'leap' and that there already are
> organisms harvesting ionizing radiation? Or am I overestemating the
> increase of evolutionary pace caused by the high ionazing radiation of
> the Tjernobyl area? And also, does an organism living on ionizing
> radiation seem possible to you? If not, then why?
I don't know of any specifics, but I haven't been following the issue
either. But here are some thoughts on the matter anyway:
There may well be some radiation-induced speciations occurring in the
area, but it should also be remembered that too much radiation tends to
produce enough deleterious and incompatible mutations to cause the
population to implode. The Rice Institute uses just enough radiation to
enhance the mutation rate to three times normal for their work. I
presume, after all the years they've been doing it, they've experimented
and found this to be about optimum.
--
Dave Oldridge
ICQ 1800667
Paradoxically, most real events are highly improbable.
Anon.
> Hello!
>
> I have a couple of questions regarding evoultionary pace, ionizing
> radiation and Tjernobyl. I'd be very grateful if anyone would take the
> time to answer these questions.
>
> Since ionizing radiation makes cells mutate, shouldn't the mutation rate
> be significantly higher in the Tjernobyl area than in ordinary places?
> Have there been any discovories of new
> species/sub-species/races/varities/etc in the Tjernobyl area that can be
> connected to the high ionizing radiation there? Is there any research
> going on in that field?
>
a sideline. Cetainly, yes, you would expect there to be a higher
mutation rate, but must mutations will be deleterious. To get new
races/varieties, they would have to maintain themselves in the
population, which normally means they have to have a selective
advantage. Evolution needs much more than just mutation (otherwise we
wouldn't have such finely tuned mechanisms in our cells to reduce the
amount of mutation).
Bob
--
Bob O'Hara
Rolf Nevanlinna Institute
P.O. Box 4 (Yliopistonkatu 5)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
Telephone: +358-9-191 23743
Mobile: +358 50 599 0540
Fax: +358-9-191 22 779
WWW: http://www.RNI.Helsinki.FI/~boh/
Gerson
> Hello!
>
> I have a couple of questions regarding evoultionary pace, ionizing
> radiation and Tjernobyl. I'd be very grateful if anyone would take the
> time to answer these questions.
>
> Since ionizing radiation makes cells mutate, shouldn't the mutation rate
> be significantly higher in the Tjernobyl area than in ordinary places?
> Have there been any discovories of new
> species/sub-species/races/varities/etc in the Tjernobyl area that can be
> connected to the high ionizing radiation there? Is there any research
> going on in that field?
>
> Is it likely that evolution has made a 'leap' and that there already are
> organisms harvesting ionizing radiation? Or am I overestemating the
> increase of evolutionary pace caused by the high ionazing radiation of
> the Tjernobyl area? And also, does an organism living on ionizing
> radiation seem possible to you? If not, then why?
>
> Best reagards and thanks in advance,
A scientist called Matthew Broderick has discovered that earthworms in
the Chernobyl area has grown unusually larger then normal.