Stress from rapidly warming climate is visible in polar bears’ DNA, study shows
Polar bears are ‘rewriting their DNA’ to survive rising temperatures
- A new study has found that polar bears in the Arctic, particularly in southeastern Greenland, are exhibiting significant changes in their DNA activity linked to rising temperatures.
- Researchers observed that bears in warmer, fragmented sea-ice environments showed markedly higher activity in 'jumping genes', which can alter how other genes switch on and off.
- These genetic changes were concentrated in genes related to heat stress, metabolism, and ageing, representing the first statistically significant link between rising temperatures and altered DNA activity in a wild mammal.
- Dr Alice Godden, lead researcher from the University of East Anglia, suggested this rapid genetic response could be a desperate survival mechanism for bears facing “future Arctic conditions”.
- While these findings offer a potential “genetic blueprint” for adaptation, experts caution that genetic shifts do not guarantee long-term survival, as polar bears remain dependent on sea ice for hunting.