We
always sort of knew that all this was likely true, but we now
understand the genetics.
The
boreal forest is essentially open to agricultural development. It
will require a people well adapted to winter conditions there
although summer personnel can obviously be migratory. Winter care of
animals will need locally adapted folks best suited to operations.
Please
note that we have developed several protocols for boreal forest
agriculture here that shows it to be quite feasible.
Cold resistance
runs in genes
by Alexandra Zakharova
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Feb 15, 2013
British researchers
have found a cold resistance gene in the DNA of indigenous Siberian
tribes, which helps them survive in the harsh local environment. A
team of geneticists from Cambridge University took DNA samples from
about 200 natives of Siberia. Laboratory tests revealed the presence
of a cold-responsive gene that enhances freezing tolerance.
Remarkably, it
controls metabolic processes, and not blood heat, as one may have
thought it would. Vadim Stepanov, Deputy Director of the Medical
Genetics Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences'
Siberian Department, holds that that every human has this gene.
"We all have one
and the same set of genes. But their combinations vary among various
ethnic groups. Northern tribes have gene combinations that
participate in lipid metabolism. When we eat fat-rich food, fat is
metabolized into lipids that are stored in our body as an energy
reserve. This is essential for humans living in harsh climate."
The inhabitants of
warm countries have different metabolism. An African placed in
Siberia will feel cold and hungry, because his small energy reserves
will quickly run out and in order to replenish them he will have to
eat plenty of meat and fat food.
On the other hand,
northerners may find it equally hard to adapt to the tropical
climate. Their cold resistance gene had been evolving over the course
of millenniums ever since humans began settling in Siberia and beyond
the Arctic Circle. Valery Tishkov is Director of the Russian
Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology.
"The adaptation
stretched for tens of thousands of years because it proceeded at a
far slower pace than in Europeans who settled in the north of Europe.
Scandinavians, by the way, have some distinctive features. You can
tell them from Europeans who live in the warmer Mediterranean climate
by their skin complexion and physique."
DNA tests like the one
performed by the Cambridge researchers could be of great use in
selecting staff for work in extremely cold or extremely hot
environments. Vadim Stepanov:
"For instance, we
need to develop Antarctica or the Arctic, which means we will have to
send people there - construction workers, navigators and so on. If
they are genetically pre-adapted to these conditions, they will work
more effectively and their health will be less impacted by the new
environment."
No comments:
Post a Comment