“New research reveals a link between rising temperatures and changes in polar bear DNA, which may be helping them adapt and survive in increasingly challenging environments.
The study by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) discovered that some genes related to heat-stress, aging and metabolism are behaving differently in polar bears living in southeastern Greenland, suggesting they might be adjusting to their warmer conditions.
The finding suggests that these genes play a key role in how different polar bear populations are adapting or evolving in response to their changing local climates and diets…
This study is thought to be the first time a statistically significant link has been found between rising temperatures and changing DNA in a wild mammal species.
Changes were also found in gene expression areas of DNA linked to fat processing, which is important when food is scarce and could mean the southeastern bears are slowly adapting to the rougher plant-based diets that can be found in the warmer regions, compared to the mainly fatty, seal-based diets of the northern populations.”
