Short read: Did South Korea’s legendary female free divers evolve for a life underwater? Scientists find new evidence

This article from CNN introduced us to one of the most remarkable communities in the world: “An island 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula is home to a unique and celebrated community of women: the Haenyeo.

These women dive year-round off Jeju Island, collecting sea urchin, abalone and other seafood from the ocean floor, descending as much as 60 feet (18 meters) beneath the surface multiple times over the course of four to five hours each day. They dive throughout pregnancy and well into old age, without the help of any breathing equipment — just a wet suit.

“For thousands of years, we think, they’ve been doing this incredible, matrilineal thing, where they learn from the mother how to dive at a very young age. They go out in these collectives, and that’s what they do. They dive,” said Melissa Ann Ilardo, a geneticist and assistant professor in biomedical informatics at the University of Utah.

“They’re spending really an extraordinary percentage of their time underwater…

“Throughout winter they’re diving when it’s snowing, and up until the 1980s, they were doing that in cotton with no protection at all.””

So how do these Korean ladies free dive in waters as deep at 60 metres for 4-5 hours/day and do so through the winter and that too in cotton clothing?

“Ilardo, along with colleagues in South Korea, Denmark and the United States, wanted to understand how the women manage this incredible physical feat. Specifically, the researchers wondered whether the divers have unique DNA that allows them to go without oxygen for so long or if that ability is the result of a lifetime of training — or a combination of the two.

The findings of their investigation, published in the scientific journal Cell Reports on May 2, uncovered unique genetic differences the Haenyeo have evolved to cope with the physiological stress of free diving. It’s a discovery that could one day lead to better treatments for blood pressure disorders, researchers say….

The team’s analysis revealed that the participants from Jeju — both divers and non-divers — were more than four times more likely than mainland Koreans to have a genetic variant associated with lower blood pressure.

“Your blood pressure increases as you dive. Their (Jeju residents’) blood pressure increases less,” Ilardo explained.

The researchers believe the trait may possibly have evolved to keep unborn children safe because the Haenyeo dive throughout pregnancy, when high blood pressure can be dangerous.

The team also found that the Jeju participants were more likely to have a genetic variation previous research has linked to cold and pain tolerance….”

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