Dave Burr spoke last Friday about how closely everyone is
related. Would you like to learn more?
About 8-10% of the world's
population has blue eyes. A 2008 University of
Copenhagen study found "that all blue-eyed individuals are
linked to the same ancestor. They have all inherited the same switch at
exactly the same spot in their DNA."
All of us have a common
great-great-great grandmother. Mitochondrial Eve is
the concept in human genetics that refers to the matrilineal most recent
common ancestor (MRCA) of all living humans. She lived 155,000 years ago
and is the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend in an
unbroken line purely through their mothers and through the mothers of
those mothers, back until all lines converge on one woman.
And all of us have a common
great-great-great grandfather. Y-chromosomal Adam is
the most recent male from whom all living humans are descended through an
unbroken line of their male ancestors. He lived about 200,000 years
ago and is the most recent man from whom all living humans descend
in an unbroken line through their fathers and through
the fathers of those fathers.
These incredible findings about our shared ancestry should
remind us that our interconnectedness is our greatest strength.