Biomaterial Database

Human adaptation to extreme environmental conditions. 2018

Melissa Ilardo, and Rasmus Nielsen

The University of Utah Molecular Medicine Program, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA; Department of Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Statistics, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Modern humans inhabit most of earth's harshest environments and display a wide array of lifestyles. Biological adaptations, in addition to technological innovations, have enabled these geographical and cultural explorations. The study of these adaptations helps not only to fundamentally understand our evolution as a species, but also may have increasing relevance as genomics transforms fields such as personalized medicine. Here we review three cultural and environmental shifts that have brought about adaptations in modern humans; the arctic, high altitudes, and a subsistence dependent on breath-hold diving.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D004242	Diving	An activity in which the organism plunges into water. It includes scuba and bell diving. Diving as natural behavior of animals goes here, as well as diving in decompression experiments with humans or animals.	Divings
D005075	Biological Evolution	The process of cumulative change over successive generations through which organisms acquire their distinguishing morphological and physiological characteristics.	Evolution, Biological
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000222	Adaptation, Physiological	The non-genetic biological changes of an organism in response to challenges in its ENVIRONMENT.	Adaptation, Physiologic,Adaptations, Physiologic,Adaptations, Physiological,Adaptive Plasticity,Phenotypic Plasticity,Physiological Adaptation,Physiologic Adaptation,Physiologic Adaptations,Physiological Adaptations,Plasticity, Adaptive,Plasticity, Phenotypic
D000531	Altitude	A vertical distance measured from a known level on the surface of a planet or other celestial body.	Altitudes
D001110	Arctic Regions	The Arctic Ocean and the lands in it and adjacent to it. It includes Point Barrow, Alaska, most of the Franklin District in Canada, two thirds of Greenland, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Lapland, Novaya Zemlya, and Northern Siberia. (Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p66)
D012641	Selection, Genetic	Differential and non-random reproduction of different genotypes, operating to alter the gene frequencies within a population.	Natural Selection,Genetic Selection,Selection, Natural
D023281	Genomics	The systematic study of the complete DNA sequences (GENOME) of organisms. Included is construction of complete genetic, physical, and transcript maps, and the analysis of this structural genomic information on a global scale such as in GENOME WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES.	Functional Genomics,Structural Genomics,Comparative Genomics,Genomics, Comparative,Genomics, Functional,Genomics, Structural