How Are Cockroaches Immune to Radiation?

Cockroaches are not only resilient and tough but also incredibly resistant to radiation. A roach exposed to radiation of a thousand rads or more will live for up to thirty days, while a human who is exposed to the same radiation for a single minute will die. While this may seem like an amazing feat, it is important to note that the cockroach would be able to survive the radiation only if it was short lived and the dose was high enough.

To test the cockroaches’ ability to survive the effects of radiation, the Mythbusters team exposed three types of insects to radiation. The roaches exhibited the most resistance, while the flour beetles were much more prone to the effects. It is also important to note that cockroaches are one of the most diverse organisms in the world, with upwards of 4,000 species. Therefore, the probability of a global nuclear holocaust resulting from nuclear detonation is very high.

Cockroaches are immune to radiation because they have a simple design. Furthermore, their cell cycle is much slower than that of humans. A single roach cell cycle in a cockroach will only divide three times per week, and they molt only once a week. Thus, if a cockroach were exposed to a blast of 1,000 rads, only a third of its cells would be affected.