
Tibetans’ Surprising Inheritance - Mz
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/07/tibetans_inherited_denisovan_genetic_adaptation_for_elevation_dna_for_living.html
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PeterWhittaker
Summary: Tibetans apparently get their high-altitude tolerance from
Denisovans, through interbreeding with H. Sapiens prior to the disappearance
of the Denisovans about 40,000 years ago.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denisovan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denisovan)

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danieltillett
More accurately humans acquired the high-altitude tolerance gene variant from
Denisovans and it was selected for in the ancestors of modern Tibetans. This
varient is present in other human populations in East and South East Asia, but
only at low frequency.

What I think is more interesting is that the Denisovans gene flow came in from
males - human girls are easy would be the bumper sticker.

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patrickg_zill
If a man and woman are both at high altitude, and the man is chasing the girl,
and the man has the gene for h-a tolerance and she doesn't - he can catch her
...

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danieltillett
Nice. Actually the Denisovans gene transfer most likely occurred somewhere in
South East Asia. It is not thought that the varient actually evolved for
improved high altitude adaption in Denisovans, but was just a varient that
later provided some selective advantage at altitude.

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alphonse23
The discovery of denisovans is really interesting. Now I'm starting to imagine
ancient societies were like the classic Planet of the Apes movies, where sub
species of different humanoids lived together and societies developed
political hierarchies/roles based on those sub species, i.e. Orangutans
functioned as politicians/state-mens, Gorillas worked in the military, and
Chimpanzee were scientist (I think that's how the movies went -- I haven't
watched them in awhile).

I wonder which sub species for human were responsible for blonde hair and
green/blue eyes -- or maybe it's a sub species yet to be discovered. I bet in
order to make that call you'd need a near perfect genome -- which is probably
vary hard to come by.

(My Thoughts)

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danieltillett
Blue eyes are the result of a single mutation in an individual that lived
around 5000 years ago. All people with blue eyes are descended from this one
person.

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Traderpt
And all individuals with 'green' eyes and many people with brown eyes with
recessive blue.

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danieltillett
Actual green in a bit more genetically complex, but yes there are lot of
people with brown eyes that carry the blue eye variant.

