In the heights of the Himalayas, the very best breed

Modern man is not final Homo sapiens the version is still evolving when environmental conditions force it. According to a recent study, modern people living in the high altitude Himalayas show this.

The goal was to find out how the ability to absorb oxygen in high altitude affects women and their births. The number of children born in a population is an important measure of species development, according to the study release states.

In the studied women, changes were found that promote living and reproduction at an altitude of more than three kilometers. The results were published In the Journal of the American Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

in the Himalayas people have lived in a thin atmosphere and otherwise harsh conditions for more than 10,000 years.

The body of those who lived there has changed so that the little oxygen there is in the air is enough. Those living in the area do not seem to suffer from the so-called hypoxia, i.e. lack of oxygen in the body.

The study delved into the living conditions, health information, heredity and information about childbirth of more than 400 Nepali women. The subjects live at an altitude of more than 3,500 meters above sea level, up to 4,200 meters.

The women were between 46 and 86 years old and had given birth to children, several. Almost 2,100 children had been born to them, on average more than five and at most no less than fourteen.

“Natural selection is going on here. The women of the region have developed in a way that takes care of the body’s oxygen needs without putting too much strain on their hearts,” says the anthropologist Cynthia Beall Beall in the bulletin.

Score according to Beall, tell beautifully how and why there is great biological variation in our species. He states this Science Alert – website

The high altitude causes a heavy strain on the body. Still, the women studied have given birth to children and remained in good shape. Usually there are risks in a pregnancy this high and the birth weight of the children is low, but this apparently does not apply to these women.

According to Beall, the results give hints about modern humans’ ability to adapt, perhaps even in other extreme conditions.

Children those examined who gave birth the most have clear features in their blood circulation and heart that promote oxygen uptake and its circulation in the body.

In these women, the concentrations of the oxygen-carrying red blood cell, or hemoglobin, were close to the average of the subjects, but the oxygen saturation was higher. It refers to how many oxygen molecules are attached to hemoglobin.

It means that the transfer of oxygen to the cells was more efficient than average in these women. The viscosity of the blood did not increase, i.e. the blood did not thicken, which is good for cardiac strain.

From inheritance a gene mutation was found again, which probably originates from ancient Denisovans. They lived in Siberia about 50,000 years ago. The descendants moved to the Himalayas at some point.

The mutation of this gene (EPAS1) is typical in the native population of the region. It increases hemoglobin concentration when oxygen decreases. It has been called the “super athlete’s gene” because it increases performance under stress. It was spotted at the beginning of the last decade.

The enlarged left ventricle of the heart also promotes the flow of oxygen in the subjects. It pumps oxygenated blood into the body. Those who gave birth to more children had blood flow to the lungs faster.

Correction on October 25 at 7:40 am: The left ventricle of the heart pumps blood to the body. At first, the text read that to the lungs.