According to Brian Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at Oxford University, all Europeans descend from just seven women, which he names the founders of seven clans. They arrived between the past 45,000 and 10,000 years, each establishing a family which today amounts to millions but still bears the genetic signature of its founder.
All people of European descent can be traced back to one of these clans, eloquent evidence of the power of genetics to illuminate human history.
His conclusion comes from a study of mitochondrial DNA, the type that is passed down unchanged from mothers to children. Only random mutations, one on average every 10,000 years, alter the letters of the genetic alphabet in this form of DNA. "It should follow then that all the mitochondrial DNA of all the humans in the world should be the same, plus any mutations," Professor Sykes said. From samples taken from 6,000 Europeans by asking them to rub a swab inside their cheek and remove a few cells, he showed that the mitochondrial DNA could be divided into seven clusters. Professor Sykes, who has set up a company, Oxford Ancestors, to commercialize the research, added: "This means that 99 per cent of Europeans can be traced back to just seven women, who founded these clans."
He has also found that the seven ancestral mothers seem to be descended from one of three clans that exist today in Africa, reinforcing the belief that all modern human beings originated from an African ancestor. Oxford Ancestors is offering to trace anyone's maternal ancestry for 180€.
Brian Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at Oxford University, explains his work on the genetic history of mankind with particular emphasis on Europe and the Near East. In what is essentially a genetic extension of the 'Out of Africa' hypothesis, he maps the origins of the surprisingly few seven main clans, from Spain in the west to Syria in the east. With mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) he shows that it is possible to trace origins as diverse as that of a woman from Bristol, England, previously from Jamaica, to the modern Kenyan Kikuyu tribe; or relate the butler of Lord Bath of Longleat to the mtDNA found in the bones of Cheddar Man, carbon-dated to 9,000 years ago. Each of the seven clans is traced via mtDNA which is only inherited from the mother's side, and has a number of key characteristics which make it an excellent biological clock (which 'ticks' once every ten thousand years). The oldest genetic line goes back 45,000 years and the most recent 10,000. The clan founders are shown to be all specific individual women and are glamorously named Katrine, Xenia, Jasmine, Velda, Ursula, Tara, and Helena.
As a scientist Brian Sykes makes a very good writer, explaining the science in a painless way and with the right number of diagrams andthe evidence, what about my reputation!'). Great fun. no maths. Imaginative fictional scenarios are painted for the matrilineal lines which by and large work very well, picking up fundamental themes like the Stone Age cave art of Chauvet and Lascaux, agriculture, domestication of animals, and tool-making. One of the best sections is the vivid and entirely non-fictional description of the personalities and politics involved in championing a new scientific theory, as it often upsets the establishment applecart. ('Never mind).
Along the way he also explains the recent history of advances in genetic science to which he has contributed greatly. Topics include the genetics of the Syrian hamster (all descended from one original captive hamster female, poor thing), hunter-gatherers in Europe, Polynesian islanders, and the true fate of the last of the Romanovs, the royal house of Russia. An outstanding coverage for a book of just 300 pages and unreservedly recommended.
Michael JR Jose, Resident Bryan Sykes Scholar
Sykes uses mitochrondrial DNA to discover western Europe's true historical roots.
Re Bartholomew, Resident Bryan Sykes Scholar
Mis à jour le 19/10/2010