Physiology Commons^™

Adaptation And Mal-Adaptation To Ambient Hypoxia; Andean, Ethiopian And Himalayan Patterns, Guoqiang Xing, Clifford Qualls, Luis Huicho, Maria Rivera-Ch, Tsering Stobdan, Marat Slessarev, Eitan Prisman, Shoji Ito, Hong Wu, Angchuk Norboo, Diskit Dolma, Moses Kunzang, Tsering Norboo, Jorge L Gamboa, Victoria E. Claydon, Joseph Fisher, Guta Zenebe, Amha Gebremedhin, Roger Hainsworth, Ajay Verma, Otto Appenzeller

Physiology Faculty Publications

The study of the biology of evolution has been confined to laboratories and model organisms. However, controlled laboratory conditions are unlikely to model variations in environments that influence selection in wild populations. Thus, the study of "fitness" for survival and the genetics that influence this are best carried out in the field and in matching environments.

Therefore, we studied highland populations in their native environments, to learn how they cope with ambient hypoxia. The Andeans, African highlanders and Himalayans have adapted differently to their hostile environment.

Chronic mountain sickness (CMS), a loss of adaptation to altitude, is common in the …