The body’s nature is so amazing that it is not limited to the abilities we know well, but is capable of mutating to become an improved version of itself. Over the years, new generations are born with abilities that defy the limits of the body, so it has happened with the so-called “sea gypsies,” the traditional peoples called Bajau, who can stay underwater without needing to breathe for long periods of time.
The Philippine Islands are a large archipelago of rocky islands that are obviously surrounded by large amounts of water, a situation that has marked the life of the inhabitants of that region who live mainly from fishing. But before the region even got its name, a group of traditional peoples learned to live freely in the seas.
Called Bajau, the people are known as “sea nomads” or “sea gypsies” and, like almost all traditional indigenous peoples, they have lived in their territory and coexisted with nature for thousands of years. The first records of the Bajau date back 15,000 years and, since then, they have dedicated themselves to life at sea.
Some of them still live in their houseboats, from where they go out to the sea to get the food they need to survive. The Bajau have spread to other parts of the Asian seas, such as Thailand. In their small boats, they carry with them what they need to live and move around the ocean.
Mutation of their genes
But the characteristic that has made them iconic to modern man is that the Bajau were born to dive. From an early age, they dive deep into the sea and have developed the ability to withstand long periods of time without breathing. On average, a member of the Bajau tribe can dive to a depth of 70 meters and hold their breath for up to 13 minutes.
Considering that the average human can barely hold their breath for 1 minute, the Bajau have become a diving icon. This is why science has been interested in understanding how they push their bodies to the limit, to the point of having mutated to adapt to life in the sea.
The first research to analyze blood samples from members of the Bajau people was conducted in 2018 by Melissa Ilardo, Eske Willerslev, and Rasmus Nielsen of the University of Copenhagen. They analyzed samples taken from 59 Bajau villagers and compared them with samples from other traditional peoples in the region who, in their history, have had little contact with the sea.
There they discovered that the sea nomads had developed a gene known as PDE10A, which is produced by the thyroid and whose main purpose is to make the spleen grow. The spleen acts as a storehouse of red blood cells, so when we hold our breath it contracts and releases red blood cells that are responsible for transporting oxygen to the body. Today we know that it is possible to train this ability, and proof of this is the mountaineers who are subjected to environments with low levels of oxygen, as well as free divers who do not use equipment to dive.
But what is most intriguing is that the Bajau did not possess large spleens as a result of training, but that newborns, even before they dive into the water, already possess spleens of larger than average sizes.
This is why researchers believe that the Bajau pushed their bodies to such a limit that it is now part of their genes, mutated in a sense. The evidence is striking and suggests that the body is so amazing that it can change its composition to adapt to extreme conditions.
Story originally published in Spanish in Ecoosfera