The changing climate poses a major threat to polar bear survival. But new research suggests that rising temperatures may be altering polar bear DNA in ways that help them adapt and endure in increasingly challenging environments.
Scientists at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. found that genes related to heat stress, metabolism, and aging are behaving differently in polar bears from southeastern Greenland, suggesting the animals are adapting to warmer Arctic conditions. These genetic changes could help the bears cope with rising temperatures.
Understanding these changes is vital for conservation efforts. The changes offer insights into which populations may survive and which remain at greatest risk. More than two-thirds of polar bears are at risk of extinction by 2050, with total extinction possible by the end of the century.
The study, which was recently published in the journal Mobile DNA, analyzed blood from bears in northeastern and southeastern Greenland, focusing on so-called “jumping genes” - small, mobile DNA segments that influence other genes. Bears in the southeast live in warmer, more variable conditions and show higher jumping gene activity, altering parts of their DNA in response to the environment.
Changes were also found in genes linked to fat processing, suggesting adaptation to diets with fewer seals and more plant material.
This is the first study linking rising temperatures to DNA changes in a wild mammal, and offers some hope that polar bears may be able to adapt to a warming Arctic.
