Cold comfort: Fat-rich diets and adaptation among indigenous Siberian populations
Recently, scientists have been exploring the genetic signatures of adaptation in several indigenous cold-adapted human populations. Now, University of Arizona professors Ryan Gutenkunst and Michael Hammer have led a new study identifying new signals of adaptation across multiple genes and exploring a rich demographic history. By performing extensive analyses on DNA sequencing data for two North-Central Siberian populations, the Nganasan (nomadic hunters) and Yakut (herders), they have been able to infer the most comprehensive demographic and adaptive history. DNA samples of both Nganasan (NGA, 21 samples) and Yakut (YAK, 21 samples) were collected during field expeditions in Siberia and working with collaborators from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia. They were also able to use data from several East-Asian and European populations from the 1000 Genome Project. This resulted in a total of 508,160 single nucleotide variants (SNVs), or DNA mutations, to ...