John is a haunted cynic working for his ex-lover's trekking and mountaineering company in the Himalayas. A mystery client joins the mission to one of the most lethal and highest mountains.
Himalayan marmots can survive at altitudes up to 5,000 meters in the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal, and Pakistan and on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China, where many of them face extreme cold, little oxygen, and few other resources. Now, researchers have sequenced the first complete Himalayan marmot genome, which may help them to better explain how the marmots live in such extremes.
Himalayan marmots can survive at altitudes up to 5,000 meters in the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal, and Pakistan and on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China, where many of them face extreme cold, little oxygen, and few other resources. Now, researchers have sequenced the first complete Himalayan marmot genome, which may help them to better explain how the marmots live in such extremes.
The findings, which appear December 20 in the journal iScience, hint at the genetic mechanisms underlying high-altitude adaptation and hibernation, the researchers say. They also serve as a valuable resource for researchers studying marmot evolution, highland disease, and cold adaptation.
"As one of the highest-altitude-dwelling mammals, the Himalayan marmot is chronically exposed to cold temperature, hypoxia, and intense UV radiation," said Enqi Liu of Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center in China. "They also hibernate for more than six months during the wintertime."
Those striking biological features led Liu and his team, including first author Liang Bai, to consider the Himalayan marmot as an ideal animal model for studying the molecular mechanisms of adaptation to extreme environments. To begin, they sequenced and assembled a complete draft genome of a male Himalayan marmot. They also re-sequenced 20 other Himalayan marmots, including individuals living at high and low altitudes, and four other marmot species. Additionally, RNA sequencing was done to compare gene-expression differences between marmots in a state of torpor and awake marmots.
The DNA data show that the Himalayan marmot diverged from the Mongolian marmot about 2 million years ago. The researchers identified two genes, Slc25a14 and ψAamp (a processed pseudogene), that have been selected in different directions in marmots living at low versus high altitudes, suggesting they are related to survival in high-altitude populations under conditions of extremely low oxygen.
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The region I newly moved in is situated at comparatively high altitudes. Therefore, it’s a little cooler than a suburb of Tokyo where I used to live. There has been no need to use air conditioning at night so far. The problem is the daytime. Although it’s obviously hot since it’s the summertime, making do with an electric fan isn’t impossible. Because I’m having my first summer here, everything…
Want to boost your weight loss efforts into overdrive?
Head to the mountains! According to the International Journal of Obesity, people living at high altitude were 4 to 5 times less likely to be overweight than people who stayed at sea level. Researchers at Germany’s University of Munich took overweight people to a resort 9-thousand feet up in the Alps. The study subjects were told to eat whatever they wanted, and avoid exercise. The result: They ate 734 FEWER calories per day and lost nearly 4 pounds, on average. Even more remarkable, they kept the weight OFF even after returning to their normal lives and altitudes. The researchers believe it’s because lower levels of oxygen boost production of the hormone leptin, the “I’m full” hormone, which makes you feel satisfied with less food and increases metabolism.
So, if you want to make it easier to lose weight? Spend your next vacation high in the mountains!
