And so, there we were, on a regular and seemingly ordinary life sci class, then Sir suddenly starts talking about the Mitochondrial Eve. Of course at first I wasn’t really able to grasp the whole concept. But as he asked questions, I was intrigued and immediately became interested. I was confused with the terminology. I guess I was intimidated by how scientific “mitochondrial” sounded. “Eve” was a giveaway. But honestly, I admit, the first time I read the word written on the board, I thought it was eve as in the night. =))
Another thing I remembered was that Sir gave us an assignment – to read about concepts regarding Most Recent Common Ancestors or MRCA. I admit I wasn’t able to read about it due to circumstances common in stressed and tortured students like me but when I had the free time, I checked it out. I researched and google-d it, just like any other student would, and made productive use of the internet. I found a useful site - not Wikipedia – which I think provided all the points needed to be understood about the Mitochondrial Eve.
So, after reading, processing and absorbing the scientific articles I have just researched, I can now safely say what the Mitochondrial Eve really is. The Mitochondrial Eve is not just a common ancestor. Specifically, the Mitochondrial Eve is the most-recent common ancestor or MRCA of all humans alive on Earth today with respect to matrilineal descent. I found the explanation of how they were able to trace “her” somehow amusing. You see, mitochondrial DNA can only be obtained from the ovum of the mother. For generations, the same mitochondrial DNA is passed on from the grandmother to the mother to the daughter. If it weren’t for the mutations, it can be said that the whole population of presently living humans contain the same mitochondrial DNA from the Mitochondrial Eve. Also, it has been made clear to me that there is no permanent Mitochondrial Eve – she depends on the “set” or population of humans alive during the era or period. All these, are no clear. I am proud of myself. I have met the mysterious woman, who is the Mitochondrial Eve.
On that fateful class, where I first heard of her, so many things ran inside my head. And as my research has proven, those things were common misconceptions. First misleading concept was the name: “Mitochondrial Eve”. Mitochondrial was pretty scientific, therefore distinct. How many synonyms can mitochondria have? But then there is “eve”. Previously I have confessed of thinking of eve as the night before. You can’t seriously blame me for that. The word eve does have several meanings and can be interpreted in many ways, especially for those who are not familiar with the concept. Another interpretation could be that this Eve could serve as proof to the Genesis, the biblical explanation of the earth. After discovering what the real thing is, I find it senseless to relate the two things. Also, this concept defies the multiple-origin theory of human evolution which states that the human species arose independently in different geographically separated populations and that the present-day ease of interbreeding is the result of a remarkable convergent evolution.
One might wonder, why women? Someone in our class commented that the idea was too sexist. Apparently, in a way it is. Since the Y-chromosome, which can be obtained from men can only be passed through males, it is somehow less relevant than the mother’s. The mother’s DNa can be passed to both sons and daughters while the father’s y-chromosome cannot be inherited by his daughters.
To end it, I quote the useful site I have just cited..
“Mitochondrial Eve is not a theory; it is a mathematical fact”.