International genetic studies prove all living men descend from one man
Christian people throughout the world who believe the Biblical account written in the Book of Genesis of the creation of Adam and Eve may not be surprised by the recent news from the world of science, but everyone else is astonished that The Genographic Project has proven that every man alive on earth today is descended from the same male ancestor in Africa. The area of Africa has not been determined, and could easily be anywhere in the North African region.
Accurate genetic dating of our human heritage, back into time tens of thousands of years, was unimaginable even a few years ago but is now becoming a regular part of the scientists’ toolbox. The amazing Genographic Project is a 5-year research initiative being led by an American National Geographic investigator, Dr. Spencer Wells, a population geneticist. He and his team of scientists and researchers are using the latest genetic and computational technologies to assess and analyse historical patterns of DNA from participants all around the world. Their intention is to better understand our human genetic roots and ancient global migration patterns.
The project director explains that it has already been discovered that all males’ Y chromosome can be traced back to a single man in Africa, who has been dubbed the ‘Y-Chromosomal Adam’. Females do not have the Y chromosome, so cannot be traced in the same way as men, but they would naturally share the same paternal source. However, women do receive what is known as ‘mitochondrial DNA’ from their mothers, which can be traced back generation after generation to a small number of ancestral women in Africa. That exciting research was reported by the Oxford University professor Bryan Sykes in his 2001 book The Seven Daughters of Eve.
‘The Y chromosome is the indicator-DNA that defines men as men, and only men can pass it on to their sons,’’ Dr Wells explained on the National Geographic website that recruits international participants. ‘’We can trace every man alive today, every Y chromosome, back to a single Y chromosome, therefore a single man, who lived in Africa 60,000 years ago. He wasn’t the only man alive at that time but he was the lucky one who left his Y chromosome lineages down to the present day.’’
Lebanon, through the American University of Beirut, is one of ten research centres established throughout the world to conduct the Genographic Project. The investigators in Beirut will be focusing on gathering DNA samples from Middle Eastern and Northern African participants. Their director explained that the global Genographic Project will look into the Middle Eastern population migration throughout history and the world, because this aspect of human history can now be traced through the story told by our genes.
Interestingly more than 25,000 Australian participants of various ethnic backgrounds have already donated some of their DNA to the Project, eager to learn about their own ancestry. Within weeks they can find their coded results posted on the website and are able to see the migration routes their own ancestors took. So far more than 320,000 people around the world have been tested, and the Genographic Project will continue recruiting participants and collecting DNA until 2011. If you are interested in learning more about the Genographic Project, click here.