The tragedy of the Italian divers who died in the Maldives allows for high-level scientific contemplation. Gregg L. Semenza, the Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, was in Rome yesterday for a scientific conference. Semenza is one of the world's leading specialists on the methods by which cells sense and adjust to oxygen supply, and his study earned him the Nobel Prize in 2019. Drawing on the Maldivian tragedy, he described how the human body reacts to hypoxia in a way that is not consistent across individuals. Some populations who have been exposed to severe settings for generations have established genetic adaptations that increase their resilience to reduced oxygen supply. "Genetic adaptation occurs in populations used to diving to considerable depths without the use of scuba tanks, such as pearl divers in Korea and Indonesia. Their genetics enable them to endure considerably longer than others. Those who live in the mountains experience a similar phenomenon: they, too, have a system that has evolved to cope with restricted oxygen availability". The scientist then recalled an important aspect of diving: ascent planning. In the absence of oxygen, he cautioned, nitrogen can generate severe complications by forming pockets in the blood. A lesson in evolutionary biology derived from a loss, demonstrating that science can find value even amid tragedy.