mitochondrial Eve

Cultural  

1. When the original analysis of the DNA in the mitochondria of modern humans was carried out, the results suggested that all modern humans share the DNA of a single individual female who lived a few hundred thousand years ago. This female was named Eve in reference to the Creation story in the Book of Genesis in the Bible (see also Bible).

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Further research has largely discredited the notion of a single Eve, although scientists have found that modern humans are descended from a very small population, perhaps as few as five thousand individuals.

Example Sentences

An observation about the biblical fascination with genealogy — the endless and much-lampooned tables of “begats” — leads Jones to undertake a discussion of mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosome Adam.

From Washington Post