AP Success - AP Biology Conceptual Analysis: Energetics - Cellular Respiration

A team of researchers are studying the effects of high altitude on mountaineers. They notice that the mountaineers' breathing rate increases significantly as they ascend, and their muscles fatigue more easily.

Describe the role of oxygen in cellular respiration.

The mountaineers' muscles fatigue more easily at high altitudes. Explain how this observation can be linked to the process of cellular respiration.

If the mountaineers were to take Creatine, a supplement known to donate phosphates to turn ADP into ATP, predict how this might affect their performance at high altitudes.

The researchers claim that the Sherpas, indigenous people of the Himalayas, have a genetic adaptation that allows them to have a more efficient cellular respiration process at high altitudes compared to the mountaineers. Suggest possible adaptations in the Sherpas that could be used to justify their claim.