Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:When the Chernobyl power plant explosion scattered ionizing radiation all over Europe, the damage it dealt lasted much longer than the initial blast. Researchers sequenced the genomes of Chernobyl cleanup workers and others exposed to high doses of radiation and found multiple new mutations. About an hour and a half past midnight on April 26, 1986, an unexpected power surge coursed through a reactor that was being tested for safety at Ukraine’s Chernobyl power plant. Related Story Inside the Chernobyl Dogs’ Strange Genetic ChangesSearching for mutations, the research team looked for locations in DNA with multiple lesions. “The present study is the first to provide evidence for the existence of a transgenerational effect of prolonged paternal exposure to low-dose [ionizing radiation],” Krawitz .