Summary: Tibetan Genetic Heritage Vs. Gene

691 Words2 Pages

I. Introduction
II. Tibetan High Life
III. EPAS1
IV. Tibetan Genetic Heritage
V. Gene Therapy
VI. Conclusion

Tibet is a reasonable sized country that touches China’s border and it is commonly known as “the roof of the world,” due to its high elevation. People that live in Tibet, called Tibetans, survive living in the high elevation with help from a gene called EPAS1. The gene helps the Tibetans survive oxygen deprivation in the high altitudes. Scientists had studied this gene for years in order to discover its origin, but they didn’t succeed until 2010. They found that the EPAS1 gene had come from Denisovan DNA. This EPAS1 gene has helped the Tibetans live in high elevations ever since they inherited the gene from the Denisovan people and …show more content…

For years, scientists have been trying to find where the EPAS1 gene originated. They compared stretches of DNA from 40 Tibetan and 40 Han Chines individuals, but there were only two matches. Then, in 2010, scientist announced that a 41,000 year-old finger bone, found in Siberia, belonged to a person who was a part of an unknown group of an extinct society of people. The civilization was named Denisovan, after the name of the cave in which the fossil was found. The scientists who were studying the EPAS1 decided to compare the DNA of the finger bone to the DNA of the Tibetans and they matched. This comparison is the closest scientists have gotten to finding the origin of the EPAS1 gene. Therefore, the chances of the Tibetans inheriting the EPAS1 gene from the Denisovans are very high. In the end, the Tibetans must have inherited the EPAS1 gene from the Denisovans and this heritage has helped the Tibetans live in high elevations for thousands of years.
In the same way that the EPAS1 gene has helped the Tibetans live in high elevations, we may be able to use it to help people that have a hard time breathing. Scientists may be able to extract the gene and place in in the DNA of a person that has difficulty breathing. The person receiving this gene therapy will be able to breath without needing so much

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