Ethiopians and Tibetans thrive in thin air using similar physiology, but different genes. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, December 6, 2012. Scientists have pinpointed genetic changes that allow some Ethiopians to live more than a mile and a half above sea level without getting altitude sickness. The genes differ from those reported previously for high-altitude Tibetans, even though both groups cope with low-oxygen in similar physiological ways, the researchers say. The study adds to our understanding of how high-altitude populations worldwide have evolved to be different from their low-altitude ancestors. Picked up by Futurity.