Denisovans Gave Tibetans Altitude Adaptation

Tibetans in the Himalayas carry a genetic adaptation that helps them thrive at high altitude. In 2014, researchers analyzed the EPAS1 gene region in 40 Tibetans and 40 Han Chinese and traced the Tibetan variant to interbreeding with Denisovans or Denisovan-related humans. Natural selection drove this inherited variant to high frequency after people colonized the Tibetan Plateau, producing the most extreme signal of positive selection found among Tibetans.

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