The Seven Daughters of Eve

Rating:
Summary: "Who's your daddy?" -or- "What's your haplotype?"
Review: Could "Who's your clan mother" and "Who's your clan father" take the place of the late sixties and seventies icebreaker question "What's your sign"? This is just one of the questions that comes to my mind after reading this very interesting book that brings state-of-the-art genetics to bear on genealogy, anthropology, and archeology. The other questions, while less amusing, are rather more profound.

About 95% of white Europeans, according to the study of donated mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) described in this book, can trace back their matrilineal descent (their mom, to her mom, to her mom, to her mom, etc. etc. etc.) to just seven women who lived between about 45,000 and 10,000 years ago in various Eurasian territories. Sykes gives a name to each woman starting with the letter designation an Italian colleague had assigned to each of the seven clusters in their mtDNA population; hence, in chronological order: "Ursula", "Xenia", "Helena", "Tara", "Velda", "Katrine", and "Jasmine". All these women in turn can be traced back to the mother of the clan who first left Africa for the Middle East, "Lara". In her turn, "Lara" traces back to "Eve", the female point of origin for the entire human species.

Read back that last paragraph again and let it sink in for a bit. Like the statement that the universe is expanding and thus at one time in the past must have been a singularity (or a near-singularity, as Hawking would have it), it doesn't take long to summarize the story, but it's implications are of metaphysical magnitude.

Here are five examples of how this new information is causing or may soon cause a ruckus:

(1) The hypothesis of multi-regional emergence of Homo sapiens from Homo neanderthalensis and Homo erectus stock now seems to be weakened gravely in comparison to the "out of Africa" theory.

(2) Working up to the study that discovered the "seven daughters", Sykes was able to give a firm boost to the theory of southeast Asian, as opposed to South American, origin for the Polynesian peoples. My condolences to Thor Heyerdahl!

(3) An entrenched notion that Middle Eastern farmers had migrated into Europe and almost completely displaced the resident Paleolithic hunter-gatherers at the dawn of the Neolithic age was challenged and now appears defunct.

(4) No genetic evidence for surviving lines of Neanderthal descent in modern Europeans or anyone else has been uncovered. Either Cro-Magnon/Neanderthal hybrid lines went extinct long ago or such hybrids were infertile or were never born in the first place.

(5) Should legal names include a "matriname" in addition to the given and surnames? ("Hell, yeah!" I say!)

That's just for starters! Who knows what other anthropological mysteries will be cleared up and what new mysteries will emerge?

So why four instead of five stars? Well, I get the feeling that this book was rushed somewhat to capitalize on the buzz Sykes' and others' findings have generated in the popular press. MtDNA forms the main thread of discovery in this book. The definitive picture will come when this can be fully interwoven with data from those groups (such as Ornella Semino, Giuseppe Passarino et. al.) tackling the nonrecombining Y chromosome markers (NRY haplotype). Sykes' can only give the most cursory treatment of their results so far.

Go ahead and pick this book up if you're interested, you'll probably have it finished off in no time as it's an engaging read. But you'll likely be wondering "who's my daddy" as well as "who's my mommy"! Hints to patrilineal descent (your dad, to his dad, to his dad, etc. etc. etc.) need NRY data so pick up a copy of the 10 Nov. 2000 issue of Science at the local library and check out Ann Gibbons report (p. 1080-1) as well as the actual paper of Semino, Passarino, et. al. (p. 1155-9). Kudos to you if you can hack through the jargon in the paper. Anyway, there would appear to be "Eight Sons of Adam" in Europe: One west-Aurignacian, one east-Aurignacian, one Gravettian, one southwest-Gravettian, and five Middle Eastern Neolithics (the other two haplotypes of the dominant ten in Europe arriving much latter with the Uralic peoples in the far north).

Unfortunately not as much data of either kind, mtDNA or NRY, has been complied for non-Europeans (yeah, just the majority of people on this planet!!) This book will only say that there are currently twenty-six known matrilineal clans in addition to the featured seven. If you can't trace your mothers back to Europe then you may be feeling major let down two thirds of the way into this book.

Five stars and mega-kudos besides will go to whoever can nicely relate to us how the descendants of the "clan mothers" and "clan fathers" have interwoven to populate the globe! What an undertaking that will be, but it is sure to come off the presses not so very far in the future if things keep up this gangbusters pace.

A nice point of departure for those finishing off this book would be Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel" which asks the question: "If we are all so similar under the skin, then why did western European and Anglo-American civilization rise to dominance?". Or one could go back further and ask why we are so different from the surviving hominids in our family tree. For this I'm going to pick up Elaine Morgan's "Aquatic Ape Hypothesis". I'll let you know how that goes. Cheers!

Rating:
Summary: Exciting at first, but doesn't hold up as well
Review: I initally posted a 4-star review for this book, but in light of genomics books I've read since then, namely "Genome" by Matt Ridley and "Cracking the Genome" by Kevin Davies, it has slipped somewhat in my favor.

Matt Ridely puts the jist of this book across in a single chapter in "Genome" from a viewpoint that is not self-centered. The rest of his book is extremely helpful in putting across just what the genome actually *is* and what commerical spin-offs that will impact our daily lives may soon come out of the basic research done on it to date (targeted drug development and personalized risk assesment and preventative health care for starters).

The asides in Davies' book made about genomic anthropology and archeology serve to underline the extent to which Sykes' account magnifies his own contributions while giving rather short shrift to others.

Go ahead and pick this book up if you're especially interested in what genomics has to offer geneaology and anthropology. You'll probably have it finished off in no time as it's an engaging read. But you'll likely be looking for other sources to round this account off, particularly those dealing with analysis of the distribution of non-recombining Y (NRY) chromosome haplotypes.

Rating:
Summary: Changes history as we knew it!
Review: I could not put "Eve" down. For those with only a sketchy background in anthropology and genetics, what an eye opener! I found bits and pieces of history learned previously suddenly falling into place or, indeed, out of place! Onward Dr. Sykes! Heads up, textbook authors!

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Summary: We're all related
Review: This is a very interesting and readable book about human evolution. Bryan Sykes and other researchers have been able to trace DNA from modern humans back to our early ancesters. Along the way they have discovered how closely all humans are related to one another. We also get to see that it works the other way around, too. DNA samples from some of the earliest human remains can be related to modern day people. The author takes the reader through his field work and laboratory tests, consultations with other scientist, right throught presenting a conference paper and its publication. The reader travels the process of taking the data and turning it into knowledge. Really good science writing.

Rating:
Summary: fantastic read
Review: If you are interested in archeology, origin of man or social history this is a must read.

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Summary: My mutating mitochondrial grandmother
Review: Genetic research is where all the science headlines are being made. If you are one of the scientists making the headlines - good for you. If you are able to write well, and can make your subject accessible to the layman, and do so with humor, all the better. So it is with Bryan Sykes and THE SEVEN DAUGHTERS OF EVE. This is the sort of book that probably drives equally qualified, but dry-boring-subject and less-literary-talented scientists green with envy. This book is a genuine can't-put-down science thriller. The substantive subject of this book is the genetic ancestry of Europeans, specifically Sykes' contention that 90% of Europeans can trace their maternal ancestry back some tens of thousands of years to one of seven women, the most ancient of which lived 45,000 years ago. In taking us on a trip backwards to meet our great-grandmothers (thousands of times removed) he reveals some very interesting tidbits such as: > The ancient Iceman found in a glacier in the Italian Alps in 1991 was proven to be of European origin, and no hoax. Sykes also made the first of his headlines by stating that Iceman had relatives currently alive and well in England. He produced one of these persons - Marie X - for the press, and was able to prove from his large database of DNA, that there was an "unbroken genetic link between Marie and the Iceman's mother stretching back over 5,000 years and faithfully recorded in the DNA". > Sykes has established almost to a certainty, that the bones found outside Ekaterinburg, Russia, in 1991 are in fact those of Czar Nicholas II and his family. > He also says that Polynesians came from Southeast Asia, rather than from South America. This not only disproves a long held belief, but because this journey is against the prevailing currents and winds, makes them some of history's best sailors. Interesting as they are, these are merely samples of what his DNA work is capable of. The real interest in the book is in his research on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and how its unique characteristics assist in determining ancestry. Mitochondria are organelles within cells that provide energy to the cell; sometimes referred to as "the fire within" they possess their own DNA - mtDNA. Unlike chromosomal DNA, mtDNA is not "mixed" (half from the male and half from the female) during reproduction; mtDNA is passed down from the mother only and passed on unchanged - with one exception - at certain points in time mtDNA mutates. These harmless mutations are not random but occur at specific and infrequent intervals (once every 10,000 years). They are passed down through suceeding generations and act as genetic markers of common ancestry. By looking at differences between mtDNA in living persons (Sykes has a vast collection, and is constantly looking to add to it; readers can send samples to the address provided...or Not!) and comparing it to samples from archaelogical specimens, Sykes is able to trace ancestry. This is what he did in order to come up with both the seven daughters (representing seven clans of European ancestry) and Eve herself (she came from a small human population group in Africa). This book touches on all the current topics in human origins and genetics. The debates about whether genetic variation is greater within a group or between groups; the genetic basis for races; the "Out of Africa" theory on the origins of man. If any of this is of interest to you, Sykes is more than willing to share his opinions with you, and he does so in a lucid and very readable manner.

Rating:
Summary: Educational, Evocative and Entertaining
Review: Of the many science books I have read, very few have been as well-written and sheerly entertaining as they have been educational.

In "The Seven Daughters of Eve," Bryan Sykes broadens the view of human evolution, tracing migrations through time and around the globe. His descriptions of the discovery and his defense of the paradigm shift of using mitochondrial DNA in anthropology are clear and easy to understand.

The heart of the book is the fictionalized reconstruction of the lives of the seven European "clan mothers" discovered by mitochondrial DNA analysis. Mr. Sykes weaves stories of the day-to-day struggle for survival of women at different points in human history. The stories are evocative, and connected me with the actual women more than simply reading "25,000 B.C." would have done. I enjoyed the stories very much. I only wish that Mr. Sykes had footnoted which of the objects mentioned in the stories had actually been found by archaeologists.

I loved Mr. Sykes' use of the word "feminine" to describe the traits that have nurtured and supported human survival. This book is an antidote to superficial definitions of femininity.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in human evolution. I would especially recommend the book to women who want to feel a closer connection with their fore-mothers.

Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating Take on Relationships
Review: Brian Sykes has come as close as one can to explaining complex genetics to the layman. The book's explanation of the scientific material is fairly difficult reading for the lay reader but the work entailed in understanding the material is worth it if you are even remotely interested in either archaeology or anthropology. While some might think that the academic controversey raised by Dr. Sykes' finding does not add to the book, I found it fascinating in getting a look at some of the infighting for bragging rights in this field. I found the book weakest when the lives of the "seven daughters of eve" were portrayed. I would have thought that we might have gotten a little more insight into their communal lives than was given in the thin chapters on this subject. That is why I ranked the book only 4 stars rather than five. In a time when we are so self centered about almost everything, its good to know how we are linked both to our past and to each other.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: One of the most amazing endeavours of all human history is going on right now, the battle to recover our human prehistory.

When I was in high school, human history basically amounted to written history plus some chit-chat about Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. Now, through the combined work of archeology, genetics, and linguistics, we are beginning to get the big picture. And what a picture emerges!

If we take the appearance of modern homo sapiens as our starting point, it appears that we have just about 6,000 generations of history, if you count a generation as 25 years. And that is a number of generations that is possible to consider as a whole. A very important time-point was the appearance of modern homo sapiens in Europe, around 45,000 years ago; since that point, there are perhaps just 2-3,000 generations of human history.

This book is a very interesting companion to Calvert Watkins' amazing book, "How to Kill a Dragon," which is a magnificent recovery of Indo-European language and literature from around the year 5,000 BC. Obviously, by that time we were speaking fluently. What about the moment we arrived in Europe, in 45,000 BC? Were we capable of painting those magnificent works of art in nothern Spain and southern France (the Basque country?) -- and still unable to speak? I don't think so. Did language distinguish homo sapiens from homo erectus? I don't know.

But answers to such questions are pouring in these days from the most unexpected quarters. It's a fascinating time to be alive!

The author provides a URL where you can order your own mtDNA analysis. Do a search for "oxfordancestors" and you'll probably find it.

It appears that the split between homo sapiens and the rest came AFTER the time of "mitochondrial Eve."

Highest recommendation!

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Summary: Cause for concern! ( feministhomemakers.com)
Review: Bryan Sykes' book is exactly what I have longed to read all these years since the news first broke about Mitochondrial DNA and its path to the original African woman who is the greatest-grandmother of all living humans. This book is filled with powerful information and fun tidbits. It also is a powerful temptation to find out about the reader's own ancestral mothers.

Because of this, I am concerned (hopefully others are as well!) about the blatant money-making venture set up by the author to coincide with this book. It is advertised on the jacket of the book--his website sells, for a hefty price, the ability to have your own Mitochondrial DNA traced to one of the Seven Daughters mentioned in the book (or other daughters he has discovered in the course of his research). Readers are also given a chance to donate their DNA to his research project for the same hefty price.

What concerns me is that in his book, he displays a careless regard for his promise of anonymity to those donating DNA. He describes in the very first few pages how he cross-checked his database (despite the separation of information for the explicit purpose of maintaining anonymity) in order to identify a donor after requests came to him from the media. (He does say he got her permission before disclosing her name to them--but hey, what about her permission before trying to identify her after a promise of anonymity?) That little anecdote at the beginning of the book shocked me with its lack of regard for his promise and soured me on any trust I might have built up for sending my own DNA to him. I was especially creeped out by the marketing/financial focus of his website,which is advertised on his book's cover.

In addition, I could find no "informed consent" form anywhere on his website for readers who are contemplating sending in their own DNA for either his service or for donation to his research project. The order form I received from him in the mail contained no such form either. This amazes me since I had to read and sign an informed consent form before my friend, who was working on a Ph.D in Social Work, could interview me about my past life experiences. This was just in case my memories might cause me psychological pain. But the author has no informed consent form even though he states that one of his services can reveal brothers not to be fathered by the same man, as they may have thought. And his website promises anonymity to those who donate DNA but his book reveals that he is willing to cross check to thwart that anonymity. And no where does he say who owns the DNA once it is donated or that he will make money from it, directly or indirectly, even as he uses it in a research project. All of this strikes me as way too lax for a research project involving humans and a substance (DNA) at the center of attention on ethics issues.

This all went toward diminishing for me the author's credibility and the book's impact, which was a big disappointment considering how long I have waited for just this type of analysis. I wish that important information such as this had not been so flippantly made vulnerable to worries of lax ethics in its procurement and maintenance.