From The Register, February 11:
Genetic study finds domestic pigs' year-round breeding sped gene flow into wild boar
Back in 2021, in the thick of pandemic mania, The Register gleefully reported that "radioactive hybrid terror pigs" were thriving in Japan's Fukushima exclusion zone.
The image of feral swine exposed to 300 times the safe human dose of cesium-137 after the 2011 nuclear meltdown, interbreeding with wild boar and roaming a post-apocalyptic hellscape, proved unusually popular with readers. It even spawned fan art. I suppose we were all extremely bored.
As the old saying goes, never let the truth get in the way of a good headline. However, new research into the Fukushima fiefdom suggests the reality is less mutant horror hog and more brisk genetics.
A team analyzing DNA from pigs and boar inside and around the evacuation zone has found that, while domestic pig genes initially mixed freely with wild boar, they're now being steadily diluted as the hybrids backcross with the local population. In other words, the "hybrid" bit is fading.
What hasn't faded is Mom's influence.
The study, led by Professor Shingo Kaneko of Fukushima University along with co-author Donovan Anderson from Hirosaki University and published in the Journal of Forest Research, reports that mitochondrial DNA – inherited down the maternal line – shows domestic sows played a key role in the early hybridization.
More intriguingly, the researchers say the rapid, year-round reproductive pattern typical of domestic pigs in the care of humans appears to have accelerated generational turnover in the population. In contrast, wild boar naturally breed only once per year....
....MUCH MORE
And speaking of terror pig swamp sows, have you seen the invitees to the Munich Security Conference?
