Why are Inuit resistant to the cold?
Inuit, who live in extremely cold regions such as northern Canada, have been thought to have adapted to the cold in some way. A study published in 2016 found that the Inuit inherited 'a gene that produces heat from certain body fats' from archaic humans.
Archaic Adaptive Introgression in TBX15 / WARS2 | Molecular Biology and Evolution | Oxford Academic
Arctic Inuit, Native American Adaptations to Cold and Body Fat Distribution May Originate from Extinct Ancient Hominid Interbreeding | Molecular Biology and Evolution | Oxford Academic
Inuit live in extremely cold regions, which can reach 30 degrees below freezing in winter. Inuit have been thought to have evolved to adapt to the cold in order to survive at such low temperatures. To test this hypothesis, a research team at the University of California, Berkeley compared the genetic information of Inuit with the genes of archaic humans such as Neanderthals and Denisovans.
Research has shown that the genes 'WARS2' and 'TBX15', which are known to be involved in the production of heat from specific body fats, may have been passed down from Denisovans to Inuit. In addition, TBX15 was frequently detected not only in Inuit but also in Native American populations, but not in African populations. From this result, the research team speculates that 'TBX15 played an important role in the expansion of Homo sapiens from Siberia across the Bering Strait to the Americas.'
The research team has found that the gene 'EPAS1' inherited from the Denisovans is involved in the 'adaptation to high altitude areas' of people living in Tibet, and Homo sapiens will continue to inherit it from the Denisovans. Environmentally adaptable genes may be discovered.
Altitude adaptation in Tibetans caused by introgression of Denisovan-like DNA | Nature
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13408
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in Science, Posted by log1o_hf