<p> The most recent common ancestors to females and males - 'Adam' and 'Eve' - lived on the planet roughly around the same time, a new study has found.<br /><br /></p>.<p>By studying the DNA sequence of Y chromosomes of men from many different populations, scientists have determined that their male most recent common ancestor (MRCA) lived sometime between 120,000 and 156,000 years ago.<br /><br />It's the first time the human ancestry has been traced back through the male line by sequencing the DNA of many entire Y chromosomes.<br /><br />It agrees reasonably well with previous findings about our female most recent common ancestor, made by studying DNA carried down through the human race's female line.<br /><br />Such studies used DNA from mitochrondria - structures inside cells - and placed that time of the most recent common ancestor between 99,000 and 148,000 years ago.<br /><br />The study led by Stanford University, the University of Michigan Medical School, and Stony Brook University hopes to lead to further research on Y chromosomes as vehicles for studying human history - and tracing male lineages back to the common "Adam" ancestors.<br /><br />Jeffrey Kidd, an Assistant Professor of Human Genetics and Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics noted that only recently has it become possible to sequence Y chromosomes, because of technical limitations of previous approaches.<br /><br />The new paper details how the team was able to make reliable measurements of the sequence variation along the Y chromosome - which is handed down only from father to son without exchanging, or recombining, genetic material with other chromosomes.<br /><br />Kidd notes that this initial paper on Y chromosome sequence diversity provides important first evidence that the male most recent common ancestor did not live more recently than the female most recent common ancestor.<br /><br />"We're interested in understanding the historical relationships between many different human populations, and the migration patterns that have led to the peopling of the world," he said.<br /><br />The study involved Y chromosomes obtained through the Human Genome Diversity Project, and from other sources. It included chromosomes from 69 men in several populations in sub-Saharan Africa, and from Siberia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Algeria and Mexico.<br /><br />The great migrations of our ancestors out of Africa, across Asian and Europe and into the Americas all helped shape today's populations - as did more recent forces related to colonialism and ever-growing global mobility.<br /><br />The reconciliation of the timing of "Adam" and "Eve," may be this study's most important immediate implication, researchers said.</p>
<p> The most recent common ancestors to females and males - 'Adam' and 'Eve' - lived on the planet roughly around the same time, a new study has found.<br /><br /></p>.<p>By studying the DNA sequence of Y chromosomes of men from many different populations, scientists have determined that their male most recent common ancestor (MRCA) lived sometime between 120,000 and 156,000 years ago.<br /><br />It's the first time the human ancestry has been traced back through the male line by sequencing the DNA of many entire Y chromosomes.<br /><br />It agrees reasonably well with previous findings about our female most recent common ancestor, made by studying DNA carried down through the human race's female line.<br /><br />Such studies used DNA from mitochrondria - structures inside cells - and placed that time of the most recent common ancestor between 99,000 and 148,000 years ago.<br /><br />The study led by Stanford University, the University of Michigan Medical School, and Stony Brook University hopes to lead to further research on Y chromosomes as vehicles for studying human history - and tracing male lineages back to the common "Adam" ancestors.<br /><br />Jeffrey Kidd, an Assistant Professor of Human Genetics and Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics noted that only recently has it become possible to sequence Y chromosomes, because of technical limitations of previous approaches.<br /><br />The new paper details how the team was able to make reliable measurements of the sequence variation along the Y chromosome - which is handed down only from father to son without exchanging, or recombining, genetic material with other chromosomes.<br /><br />Kidd notes that this initial paper on Y chromosome sequence diversity provides important first evidence that the male most recent common ancestor did not live more recently than the female most recent common ancestor.<br /><br />"We're interested in understanding the historical relationships between many different human populations, and the migration patterns that have led to the peopling of the world," he said.<br /><br />The study involved Y chromosomes obtained through the Human Genome Diversity Project, and from other sources. It included chromosomes from 69 men in several populations in sub-Saharan Africa, and from Siberia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Algeria and Mexico.<br /><br />The great migrations of our ancestors out of Africa, across Asian and Europe and into the Americas all helped shape today's populations - as did more recent forces related to colonialism and ever-growing global mobility.<br /><br />The reconciliation of the timing of "Adam" and "Eve," may be this study's most important immediate implication, researchers said.</p>