Haenyeo

When an activity is strenuous and essential for a population’s survival, selection might shape genomic adaptation to this type of livelihood. The Haenyeo are female divers from Jeju Island in South Korea that have been diving to harvest sea products for centuries without scuba gear. We hypothesized that selection might have allowed the Haenyeo to adapt to a lifestyle of free diving. In collaboration with Dr. Melissa Ilardo and Dr. Joo-Young Lee from Seoul National University, we took physiological measurements from the Haenyeo, other Jeju citizens, and individuals from Seoul. We generated genomic data for each participant with low-coverage sequencing and imputation using the Korea1K Project. We inferred ancestry, population history, and potential loci under selection that might underlie an adaptation to diving.

We found that the genetics of the people from Jeju (Haenyeo and non-divers) have a unique history and divergence from mainland Korea. We found genes under selection related to cold-adaptation and reduced diving blood pressure.

Read the whole paper here: Genetic and Training Adaptations in the Haenyeo Divers of Jeju, Korea

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