Mitochondrial Eve

In gradeschool. I learned something about the “missing link” in the possibility of tracing the evolution of humanity. I was very interested in actually learning a lot about our “ancestors” and how they have evolved into the beings that we are right now. I have always believed in the existence of Adam and Eve not only because of the bible, but also because I interpret the Adam and Eve that we’re talking about as humans who are related to everyone on earth. It’s quite fascinating to know that it is very possible for us to actually trace who our own Eve is and to know where we came from. In reading an essay by Krishna Kunchithapadam, she pointed out the importance of knowing that the mitochondrial eve that we’re actually looking for today is only the Mitochondrial Eve of our generation.

I think it’s very important for us to understand that the Eve that we’re looking for is not an all-encompassing Eve who was the first woman on earth (if she really existed). Kunchithapadam put in the statement, "She is the most-recent common ancestor of all humans alive on Earth today with respect to matrilineal descent. … While each of us necessarily has two parents, we get our mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA from the ovum (and hence from our mothers). Our mothers got their mitochondrial DNA from their mothers and so on. Thus, while our nuclear DNA is a mish-mash of the DNA of our four grandparents, our mitochondrial DNA is an almost exact copy of the DNA of our maternal grandmother (the match may not be exact due to mutations. In fact, the mutations in the mitochondrial DNA provide the molecular clock that allows us to determine how much time has elapsed since the ME lived).The ME represents that woman whose mitochondrial DNA (with mutations) exists in all the humans now living on Earth. That does not mean that she is our lone woman ancestor. We have ancestors who are not via matrilineal descent. For example, our father's mother (who did pass on her mitochondrial DNA to her daughters) is an example of an ancestor who is not matrilineal to us. However, she did exist at one time and was probably of the same age as our mother's mother, who is a matrilineal ancestor of ours and from whom we got our mitochondrial DNA.”.

It may sound surreal, but it’s actually proven mathematically so there’s no reason for me not to believe it. Ang astig e! Apir!