The Seven Daughters of Eve – The Science that Reveals our Genetic Ancestry

by Bryan Sykes (Author), Bryan Sykes (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2001

  $8.87

  One of the most dramatic stories of genetic discovery since James Watson's The Double Helix-a work whose scientific and cultural reverberations will be discussed for years to come. In 1994 Professor Bryan Sykes, a leading world authority on DNA and human evolution, was called in to examine the frozen remains of a man trapped in glacial ice in northern Italy. News of both the Ice Man's discovery and his age, which was put at over five thousand years, fascinated scientists and newspapers throughout the world. But what made Sykes's story particularly revelatory was his successful identification of a genetic descendant of the Ice Man, a woman living in Great Britain today. How was Sykes able to locate a living relative of a man who died thousands of years ago? In The Seven Daughters of Eve, he gives us a firsthand account of his research into a remarkable gene, which passes undiluted from generation to generation through the maternal line. After plotting thousands of DNA sequences from all over the world, Sykes found that they clustered around a handful of distinct groups. Among Europeans and North American Caucasians, there are, in fact, only seven. This conclusion was staggering: almost everyone of native European descent, wherever they may live throughout the world, can trace their ancestry back to one of seven women, the Seven Daughters of Eve. Naming them Ursula, Xenia, Helena, Velda, Tara, Katrine, and Jasmine, Sykes has created portraits of their disparate worlds by mapping the migratory patterns followed by millions of their ancestors. In reading the stories of these seven women, we learn exactly how our origins can be traced, how and where our ancient genetic ancestors lived, and how we are each living proof of the almost indestructible strands of DNA, which have survived over so many thousands of years. Indeed, The Seven Daughters of Eve is filled with dramatic stories: from Sykes's identification, using DNA samples from two living relatives, of the remains of Tsar Nicholas and Tsaress Alexandra, to the Caribbean woman whose family had been sold into slavery centuries before and whose ancestry Sykes was able to trace back to the Eastern coast of central Africa. Ultimately, Sykes's investigation reveals that, as a race, what humans have in common is more deeply embedded than what separates us.

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $3.25

  A first-hand account of the author's research in a gene which passes undiluted from generation to generation through the maternal line and shows how it is being used to track our genetic ancestors. Explains how almost anyone of European descent, wherever they live, can trace their ancestory back to one of seven women.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2001

  $4.19

  In 1994, Professor Bryan Sykes, a leading authority on DNA and human evolution, was called in to examine the frozen remains of a man trapped in glacial ice in Northern Italy. The frozen man was put at over five thousand years old, and Professor Sykes managed to track down a genetic descendant of the Ice Man, a woman living in Britain today. In The Seven Daughters of Eve , Professor Sykes provides a first-hand account of his research into a gene which passes undiluted from generation to generation through the maternal line and shows how it is being used to track our genetic ancestors. Professor Sykes shows how almost anyone of European descent, wherever they live in the world, can trace their ancestry back to one of seven women. This is a scientific journey that shows how we can learn exactly how our origins can be traced, where our anscestors lived and how we are all proof of the miraculous strength of DNA.

• New

  Paperback
  2004

  $12.28

  In 1994 Professor Bryan Sykes, a leading world authority on DNA and human evolution, was called in to examine the frozen remains of a man trapped in glacial ice in northern Italy. News of the discovery of the Ice Man and his age, which was put at over five thousand years old, fascinated the world. But what made the story particularly extraordinary was that Professor Sykes was also able to track down a living generic relative of the Ice Man, a woman living in Britain today. How was he able to locate a living relative of a man who died thousands of years ago? In The Seven Daughters of Eve, Bryan Sykes gives us a first hand account of his research into a remarkable gene which passes undiluted from generation to generation through the maternal line and shows how it is being used to track our genetic ancestors through time and space. After plotting thousands of DNA sequences from all over the world he found that they had clustered around a handful of distinct groups. In Europe there are only seven. The conclusion: almost everyone of native European descent, wherever they live in the world, can trace their ancestry back to one of seven women, the Seven Daughters of Eve. He has named them Ursula, Xenia, Helena, Velda, Tara, Katrine and Jasmine. In this remarkable scientific adventure story we learn exactly how our origins can be traced, how and where our ancient genetic ancestors lived, what their live were like and how we are each living proof of the almost miraculous strength of our DNA which has survived and prospered over so many thousands of years to reach us today. It is a book that not only presents the story of our evolution in a wholly new light, but also strikes right at the heart of ourselves as individuals and of our sense of identity.