The mutants of Fukushima

And suddenly being cross-eyed is not such a problem....

A month after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in Japan, scientists collected 144 pale grass blue butterflies, Zizeeria maha, near the plant. What they found was that the butterflies were starting to show mutations like deformed wings and dented eyes. Six months later another lot of butterflies were collected near the plant and, disturbingly, it was found that the incidence of these mutations had doubled. Lab-based exposure of butterflies to similar levels of radiation to that around Fukushima plant induced similar mutations, strengthening the link between the radiation and mutations butterflies on-site were displaying. Most worrying of all, is that there is an apparent accumulation of mutations down through the butterfly generations. This is likely a result of damage to the butterflies' germ line (cells that become sperm and eggs).

Having said all that, bear in mind that these butterflies are known as indicator species (meaning they are often used by scientists to assess impacts of, say, a nuclear power plant accident on the environment, as the butterflies are quite sensitive to small environmental changes). That means that all the important animals, like birds and other vertebrates, are OK (*prepares self for the onslaught from entomologists everywhere*).

Image courtesy of Hiyama et al. / Scientific Reports
Full paper available: http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/120809/srep00570/full/srep00570.html