8,000-year-old mutation key to human life at high altitudes

(University of Utah Health Sciences) Tibetans thrive in the thin air of the Tibetan Plateau, an environment in which others struggle to survive in. A study led by University of Utah scientists is the first to find a genetic cause for the adaptation -- a single DNA base pair change that dates back 8,000 years -- and demonstrate how it contributes to the Tibetans' ability to live in low oxygen conditions. The study appears online in the journal Nature Genetics on Aug. 17.