Scientists have had a very basic understanding and research information in regards to giraffes. In this article by Amanda Heidt, a deeper look as to explanations of a giraffe's long neck adaption was shown. Giraffe bones were shown to grow way faster than any other animals that they were compared to. The Ruminant Genome Project was launched to study the genomes of a number amount of giraffes. When diving into the common relatives of the giraffes there were around 500 genes that were uniquely specified to giraffes. One gene which had stood out was the FGFRL1, which when tested, shown to explain the very dense material that the bones of the giraffes were made from and allows the giraffes to protected against lifelong high blood pressure. With further testing regarding this gene, there's hope it can help develop treatments for high blood pressure in humans. This article by Liu Chang further elaborates on how exceptional hypertension resistance and higher bone mineral density due to the FGFRL1 gene.
i would never have guessed that a treatment for high blood pressure could be developed from a gene existing in giraffes. Hopefully further testing and research will show more support in this treatment.
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