Mutant Butterflies At Fukushima Nuclear Plant

Mutant Butterflies At Fukushima Nuclear Plant

news.sky.com

Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies near Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant.

The abnormalities have raised fears that radiation may have spread to other species, including humans.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Update:

Skynews doesn't give the actual study for viewing, only the site where it is. I've found it, and here is the link for the study being discussed.

Around 12% of the pale grass blue species exposed to nuclear fallout as larvae immediately after the disaster had abnormalities.

These included smaller wings and damaged eyes, researchers said.

The insects were mated in a laboratory well outside the fallout zone and 18% of their offspring displayed similar problems.

Although this is a small insect, and the results can't be applied directly to other species, it does raise some concerns.

If the radiation spread is bad enough to infiltrate into generations of butterflies, it could as easily spread to other forms of life that have the same sort of complexity, like plants or other insects.

Since life on Earth is a complex system of "food chains", this does raise the question if humans aren't going to be affected by consuming mutated food.

Even if the radiation isn't affecting humans directly, this is something to be concerned about, in my opinion.

news.sky.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Comic books are going to become science fact and not science fiction/fantasy now!!!!

Here's the source report:

www.nature.com...

It's pretty interesting - but it doesn't really breed much in terms of concern for human health. These things are incredibly sensitive to radiation exposure:

It has been reported that the sterilising dose of external radiation to pupae of the melon fly had no influence on eclosion rate and adult longevity36. Similarly, silk moth pupae have been reported to be highly resistant to external radiation exposure37. However, closer examination of the adult morphology of various insects after irradiation has demonstrated morphological damage to testes, antennae, and wings, and frequent pupal and larval death due to molting failure38, 39, 40. We showed that Z. maha is sensitive to external radiation at the level of 55 mSv from 137Cs. It is probable that this level of radiation is similar to the field exposure level at least in some areas around the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP. Although exposure levels of Z. maha in this study are relatively low, the abnormalities observed in this butterfly were similar to those previously reported in other insects38, 39, 40. Furthermore, our results are consistent with the previous field studies that showed that butterfly populations are highly sensitive to artificial radionuclide contamination in Chernobyl and Fukushima10, 15, 17. Together, the present study indicates that the pale grass blue butterfly is probably one of the best indicator species for radionuclide contamination in Japan.

A dental x-ray will # these things up.

But the data is, indeed, interesting. Though mutation rates drop off radically outside of 40 kilometers from the site. That tidbit has to be kept in mind, as this is regarding a species that was not evacuated and has reproduced several times since the incident. Which is important to note in terms of radiation exposure. Damage to small cell groups while in gestation can have implications for the entire organism as well as germ cells derived from them.

Which means that risks to humans are far smaller. Though humans also have some pretty hefty gene-repair systems in place, as well, by comparison to many insects (which survive simply based on raw attrition).

Add worms into the mix.

Link.

I'd be be worried about moths mutating!



Kidding aside though, the way things are going, eventually they will have to just admit defeat and evacuate all of Japan.

reply to post by Darkblade71

Kidding aside though, the way things are going, eventually they will have to just admit defeat and evacuate all of Japan.

That's a negative.

There's simply no reason to. All of these mutations pretty much drop off to zero outside of 40 kilometers.

Further, this species is particularly vulnerable to radiation exposure. Human beings are far more tolerant to radiation exposure with much better gene repair systems that come standard with being mammals.

That also being said, butterflies survive almost exclusively off of the local environment while the human population survives off of many supply chains from nonlocal regions (even if they still come from Japan). Which means chances of internal radionuclide exposure is greatly diminished (also, the thyroid and other nodes tend to be the ultimate destination of most radionuclides in humans - distinctly away from reproductive organs).

There is little reason to be concerned for human health in this.

Studies involving local populations of small mammals will show the butterflies to be the exception proving the rule.

Please add additional comments to previously existing thread located here.

Thanks!

Thread closed.