High-Altitude Living Changed the Epigenetics of Peruvians

For 11,000 years, indigenous people have lived in the Andes Mountains that is approximately 2,500 meters above sea level. Although normally people cannot survive high altitude places, the Andean people have developed characteristics that enabled them to survive the harsh environment of the mountains.

Studies found that living in high altitude areas alters the genes of the Peruvian people so that their bodies could adapt to the conditions of the Andes Mountains.

Recent research has found that extreme conditions in high altitude areas have also changed the chemical modifications that control the DNA's activity. The epigenetic alterations are the first evidence that living high up in the mountains alters not just the genes but also how the body uses them, Science magazine reported.

Environment Turns On or Off Specific Genes to Adapt

For the longest time, scientists wondered how environmental stress, such as low oxygen concentrations, can shape the activity of the genes in high-altitude living people. But this study reveals that the environment does have an impact on the chemical modifications to the DNA that either turns on or off specific genes.

These epigenetics allow people to adapt to the harsh conditions of their environment rapidly than normal genetics would allow, although researchers noted that the role of epigenetics in helping people adapt to high altitude conditions is still unclear.

The researchers studied the epigenetic process called methylation that adds up the chemical known as methyl into the DNA of Quechua who was born and raised 3,000 meters above sea level. Some of these people were born in high altitudes but later on moved to sea levels when they were young, and some also were born in the sea level before they were born.

Science magazine reports that regardless of whether they were born in high altitude and later moved to sea level or they were born in sea level areas, there are significant differences in the methylation patterns among the groups. Researchers believe that this epigenetics is permanently cemented on the genes of Quechua because they were once exposed to low-level oxygen either by birth or during early childhood.

Moreover, they also found changes in the gene involved in the breakdown of sugar that was exclusive to those who were raised in high altitude areas, which suggests that changes will continue to arise if the Quechua are continuously exposed to high altitude.

The researchers also found that these alterations are irreversible, which means that even after moving to low altitudes, the Quechua will continue to act as though they are at a high altitude.

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Living in the High Altitude Areas

Millions of Andean and Tibetan people live in high altitudes for thousands of years. According to National Geographic, they managed to forage their food in the Andean and Tibetan plateau, encountered desolate landscapes, cold, litter water, and extreme climates.

For people born and raised in low altitude areas, going to these places could cause symptoms of hypoxia or mountain sickness, that can kill at 7,600 meters above sea level.

But people who live in high altitude regions of the world have adapted well to the conditions above because Andeans have perfectly adapted to the thin air by developing an ability to carry more oxygen molecules in the red blood cells, and still breathe at a rate similar to people living at sea level.