Mitochondrial Eve

ANTR-3046-2U1
Prof. Yuri Valdés

We have all learned over the years about the nuclei of cells and the inheritence from both parents are found in the nucleus. Humans have 46 chromosomes whichthey inherit from their parents. DNA from both their parents, are put together in a recombination process that allows children to inherit their traits. Although, it is thought that DNA doesn't come fromboth their parents, it comes mostly from the mother; that when the the sperm enters the egg, it is broken down by enzymes which in the end they are of no use. Only the mitochondria from the egg areused for the new developing person. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to daugher, generation to generation but the DNA passed from mother to son will not be passed onto his children. But thereare several theories that say otherwise. Countless studies have led to reveal that all people are related to some original mother called "Mitochondrial Eve".
Mitochondrial Eve is known as thematernal ancestor of all living humans or the most common female ancestor in Africa of all humans alive on earth. The discovery of Mitochondrial Eve first apppeared in an article "Mitochondrial DNA andHuman Evolultion", issue of Nature, January 1st 1987 and was authored by Rebecca Cann, Mark Stoneking, and Allan C. Wilson. These three scientists proclaimed that they have proven that all modern humanbeings can trace their ancestry back to a single woman who lived 200,000 years ago in Africa, named Eve. This assumption has lead researchers to believe that Africa was the ancient cradle ofcivilization from which all humanity had emerged. According to doctors Bert Thompson and Brad Harrub, "To find this woman, researchers compared the different varieties of Mitochondrial DNA in the human family.Since the mitochondrial DNA occurs in small quantities, and since the researchers wanted as large a sample as possible from each person, they decided to use human placentas as their source of the...