The seven daughters of Eve

In commemoration of the day of the working woman

Before I start, I want to point out that this blog has nothing to do with the Bible or with religious matters.

Picture 1. Presentation cover, made by author

What are the seven daughters of Eve?

“The seven daughters of Eve” is a book written by Bryan Sykes, who, after analyzing the mitochondrial DNA of numerous Europeans, notes a homogeneous behavior that allows individuals to be grouped into seven female clans. Sykes mentions in his work the seven daughters of Eve as the seven mothers of all humanity (actually, of Europe):

1. Ursula: He lived approximately forty five thousand years ago.
2. Xenia: He lived approximately twenty five thousand years ago.
3. Helena: He lived approximately twenty thousand years ago.
4. Velda: He lived approximately seventeen thousand years ago.
5. Tara: She lived approximately seventeen thousand years ago (same as Velda).
6. Katrine: He lived approximately fifteen thousand years ago.
7. Jasmine: He lived approximately eight thousand five hundred years ago.

The reader is probably wondering: Why “daughters” and not “sons”? The reason is that mitochondrial DNA has the limitation of not being able to be transmitted “paternally”, since the mitochondria are found in the tail of the sperm, which is shed during human fertilization.

Picture 2. Human conception, taken of the page web Mi bebé y yo: https://mibebeyyo.elmundo.es/quedar-embarazada/quiero-tener-un-hijo/fecundacion-ovulo

How does DNA work?

Picture 3. Clipping of the presentation, made by author

In simple words, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a long chain composed of nitrogenous bases, this chain reaches the cells, where the Ribosomes are responsible for “translating” the chain’s message so that their cells perform their function properly, for Example: The Ribosomes of the nail cells translate the chain of nitrogenous bases for the production of Keratin, while the bone cells carry out the same process with Collagen.

Anastasia Romanov

The story of Anastasia Nikolayevna Romanov is quite popular, so I won’t waste time telling it.

Picture 4. Last photograph of Anastasia Romanov, Romanov family or retinue, taken of Wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AnastasiaRus.jpg

Bryan Sykes recounts how Anastasia’s impostor, Anna Anderson, was discovered after mitochondrial DNA analysis. Anastasia was not had to check her mitochondrial DNA, but it was compared with the mitochondrial DNA of her sisters and mother (her brother’s body was not found, but his DNA would have worked too). The results were completely negative, verifying that Anna Anderson had a pathetic life, trying to claim what did not belong to her.

Surely all the points about mitochondrial DNA have already been clear, but…

What is a mitochondrion?

Picture 5. Mitochondrion, illustration 3D taken of the app Cell Word, made by V.I.E.W.

The mitochondria is an “organelle” (like the Ribosomes) found in cells, which are responsible for synthesizing Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and thereby obtaining energy.

References:

Sykes, B. (2001). Las siete hijas de Eva. DEBATE.

V.I.E.W. (2014). Cell Word (1.0) [Aplicación movil]. Google play. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.VIEW.CellWorld

Picture 6. Thanks, made by author

You can find the full presentation on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca3K0r0uVuC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link