High-coverage whole-genome sequences of Tibetan highlanders. Homo sapiens

To revisit and address four major unresolved issues regarding prehistory, especially the Neolithic history of Sherpas and Tibetans and their hypoxic adaptation: (i) whether they are two genetically different ethnic groups; (ii) whether population substructures exist in either of the two groups; (iii) how long they have diverged from their ancestral group and when the two separated groups started to re-contact by population admixture; and (iv) whether the two groups share major high-altitude adaptation mechanisms. The careful and systematical analysis of these newly sequenced genomes, together with available genotyping data can provide further insight into the genetic origins of Sherpas and Tibetans and uncover their different adaptive mechanisms.