Retraction: High levels of genetic change in rodents of Chernobyl

Nature 380, 707–708 (1996) We previously reported an elevated DNA substitution rate in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of voles from Chernobyl. Our conclusion was based on a higher level of variation in rodents living in the zone of radioactivity than in rodents from control regions. Those DNA sequences were obtained by manual sequencing of cloned PCR products.