A large-scale genomic study published in Cell Reports has analyzed the remains of a Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherer found in the Upper Ob River basin of Siberia. The results identify a previously unknown genetic lineage that possessed a unique adaptation to high levels of cadmium and other heavy metals found in the lichen-based food chains of the ancient mammoth steppe.
The researchers discovered that this population developed a highly specialized metallothionein gene duplication, allowing them to thrive in mineral-rich environments that would have been toxic to other contemporaneous groups. This genetic signature provides new insights into the complex survival strategies and physiological diversity of the human populations that inhabited the high-latitude fringes of Eurasia during the last glacial maximum.