Scientist are divided as to whether the animals are flourishing in the highly radioactive environment.

Robert J. Baker of Texas Tech University says the mice and other rodents he has studied at Chernobyl since the early 1990s have shown remarkable tolerance for elevated radiation levels.

This article on news @ nature.com discusses a recent discovery of a technique that removes the need for eggs or embryos. Three different groups in the past week have reported research that normal skin cells can be reprogrammed into an embryonic state in mice. The race is on to apply the same procedure to human cells. From the article;