Almost every man alive can trace his origins to one man who lived about 135,000 years ago, new research suggests. And that ancient man likely shared the planet with the mother of all women.

The findings, detailed today (Aug. 1) in the journal Science, come from the most complete analysis of the male sex chromosome, or the Y chromosome, to date. The results overturn earlier research, which suggested that men's most recent common ancestor lived just 50,000 to 60,000 years ago.

Despite their overlap in time, ancient "Adam" and ancient "Eve" probably didn't even live near each other, let alone mate. [The 10 Biggest Mysteries of the First Humans]

"Those two people didn't know each other," said Melissa Wilson Sayres, a geneticist at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the study.

Tracing history

Researchers believe that modern humans left Africa between 60,000 and 200,000 years ago, and that the mother of all women likely emerged from East Africa. But beyond that, the details get fuzzy.

The Y chromosome is passed down identically from father to son, so mutations, or point changes, in the male sex chromosome can trace the male line back to the father of all humans. By contrast, DNA from the mitochondria, the energy powerhouse of the cell, is carried inside the egg, so only women pass it on to their children. The DNA hidden inside mitochondria, therefore, can reveal the maternal lineage to an ancient Eve.

But over time, the male chromosome gets bloated with duplicated, jumbled-up stretches of DNA, said study co-author Carlos Bustamante, a geneticist at Stanford University in California. As a result, piecing together fragments of DNA from gene sequencing was like trying to assemble a puzzle without the image on the box top, making thorough analysis difficult.

Y chromosome

Bustamante and his colleagues assembled a much bigger piece of the puzzle by sequencing the entire genome of the Y chromosome for 69 men from seven global populations, from African San Bushmen to the Yakut of Siberia.

By assuming a mutation rate anchored to archaeological events (such as the migration of people across the Bering Strait), the team concluded that all males in their global sample shared a single male ancestor in Africa roughly 125,000 to 156,000 years ago.

In addition, mitochondrial DNA from the men, as well as similar samples from 24 women, revealed that all women on the planet trace back to a mitochondrial Eve, who lived in Africa between 99,000 and 148,000 years ago — almost the same time period during which the Y-chromosome Adam lived.

More ancient Adam

But the results, though fascinating, are just part of the story, said Michael Hammer, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the study.

A separate study in the same issue of the journal Science found that men shared a common ancestor between 180,000 and 200,000 years ago.

And in a study detailed in March in the American Journal of Human Genetics, Hammer's group showed that several men in Africa have unique, divergent Y chromosomes that trace back to an even more ancient man who lived between 237,000 and 581,000 years ago. [Unraveling the Human Genome: 6 Molecular Milestones]

"It doesn't even fit on the family tree that the Bustamante lab has constructed — It's older," Hammer told LiveScience.

Gene studies always rely on a sample of DNA and, therefore, provide an incomplete picture of human history. For instance, Hammer's group sampled a different group of men than Bustamante's lab did, leading to different estimates of how old common ancestors really are.

Adam and Eve?

These primeval people aren't parallel to the biblical Adam and Eve. They weren't the first modern humans on the planet, but instead just the two out of thousands of people alive at the time with unbroken male or female lineages that continue on today.

The rest of the human genome contains tiny snippets of DNA from many other ancestors — they just don't show up in mitochondrial or Y-chromosome DNA, Hammer said. (For instance, if an ancient woman had only sons, then her mitochondrial DNA would disappear, even though the son would pass on a quarter of her DNA via the rest of his genome.)

As a follow-up, Bustamante's lab is sequencing Y chromosomes from nearly 2,000 other men. Those data could help pinpoint precisely where in Africa these ancient humans lived.

"It's very exciting," Wilson Sayres told LiveScience. "As we get more populations across the world, we can start to understand exactly where we came from physically."

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitterand Google+. Follow LiveScience @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/01/genetic-adam-eve-chromosome-men-man_n_3691084.html

Tell me you got this stuff firstly from 'philosophy of fela' page on fb then you proceed to source it elsewhere.

Now this is interesting. Although I don't subscribe to all this science stuff because I've all the Info I need from the bible, but just wanted to repeat what I said to logicboy and co, science can only collaborate what's already in the bible n prove the existence of God.

noblefada: Now this is interesting. Although I don't subscribe to all this science stuff because I've all the Info I need from the bible, but just wanted to repeat what I said to logicboy and co, science can only collaborate what's already in the bible n prove the existence of God.

did you notice the date and location at all?? Your biblical recent creation of adam and eve in eden is not supported...how your common sense fail to notice this is alarming, but considering you are a xtian, its not surprising...

It seems that the Christians are taking this to mean that science is somehow confirming the biblical Adam and Eve myth. This couldn't be farther from the truth.

The "Ancient Adam" being referred to is just the most recent male common ancestor of all humans presently living. He wasn't the first man, or the only man alive at the time. There was nothing different special about him at the time. Plus as people die and more are born, the title of most recent common ancestor will inevitably shift to someone else. Its not a permanent thing, rather its constantly changing as the human population changes.

The same science tells us that there have never been fewer that 50,000 individuals at any point throughout the existence of the human race. And then there is the small fact that molecular genetics (the field of biology this study belongs) is completely married to Darwin's theory of evolution.

The truth is that the story of Adam and Eve is nonsense. At best you can say is that it's a metaphor. But if in 2013 with the discovery of DNA and all we've learnt from it, you still think Adam and Eve really existed, then you need to surrender your WAEC certificate because you're an illiterate.

FearGodAndLive: Source: www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/01/genetic-adam-eve-chromosome-men-man_n_3691084.html

Your source. Is not the huffington post as stated in your link its the HUFFPOST which is a blog

manmustwac: Your source. Is not the huffington post as stated in your link its the HUFFPOST which is a blog

Your bias against Christians is quite glaring. I'm beggining to feel there's an agenda against Christianity on this site. Do me a favour and check the homepage of the link to confirm its authencity.

From Wikipedia:
The Huffington Post (sometimes abbreviated Huff Post or HuffPo) is an online news aggregator and blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, Andrew Breitbart,[2][3] and Jonah Peretti, featuring columnists.[4] The site offers news, blogs, and original content and covers politics, business, entertainment, environment, technology, popular media, lifestyle, culture, comedy, healthy living, women's interests, and local news.

It''s also a tad suspicious you didn't notice this athiest's was linked to the same site: https://www.nairaland.com/1383288/cross-jesus-found-desperate-religion

I have reservations about your moderator skills on this board and only hope the management can step in and resolve this issue. You lack the transparency, integrity and honesty required to be moderator of any section, let alone the religious one.

Evil Brain: It seems that the Christians are taking this to mean that science is somehow confirming the biblical Adam and Eve myth. This couldn't be farther from the truth.

Chirsitianity is not even mentioned once in the OP. The rest of your rant is therefore irrelevant and an unnecessary attack on Christianity.

FearGodAndLive:
Chirsitianity is not even mentioned once in the OP. The rest of your rant is therefore irrelevant and an unnecessary attack on Christianity.

do you notice your subject at all?

Genetic adam & Eve Chromosome Study Traces Humans To Man Who Lived 135k yrs ago.....

who pushes such dumb stories except the dumb xtians

ooman:

did you notice the date and location at all?? Your biblical recent creation of adam and eve in eden is not supported...how your common sense fail to notice this is alarming, but considering you are a xtian, its not surprising...

Let me say again I'm not anyway saying supporting science as I said the bible is sufficient. But this scientific facts is for u who believe in it. From the report it is concluded that all men originated from man and likewise women, now tell me how the timing and place of the study contradicts the bible. waiting for ur reply

ooman:

do you notice your subject at all?

Genetic adam & Eve Chromosome Study Traces Humans To Man Who Lived 135k yrs ago.....

who pushes such dumb stories except the dumb xtians

How does the time affect the believes of the bible?

noblefada: Now this is interesting. Although I don't subscribe to all this science stuff because I've all the Info I need from the bible, but just wanted to repeat what I said to logicboy and co, science can only collaborate what's already in the bible n prove the existence of God.

i have no comment on this thread. Just wanted to quote that @bold for posterity sake.


I'm in pains brethren

Mr Troll: i have no comment on this thread. Just wanted to quote that @bold for posterity sake.


I'm in pains brethren

good note