Worm Hanky Panky

WORM SEX SHOW EFFECTS OF CHERNOBYL

The nuclear accident 17 years ago at Chernobyl has changed the sexual habits of worms in the area of the reactor.

Ukrainian scientists write in the journal Science that worms contaminated by radioactivity have started having sex with each other instead of on their own, as a way to increase their chances of survival.

Sexual reproduction allows natural selection to promote genes that offer better protection from radiation damage. The researchers at the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas in Sevastopol compared the worms around the reactor to worms miles away,where there was no radioactive contamination. Two species of Chernobyl worms had switched from asexual to sexual reproduction.

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