The Seven Daughters of Eve

In 1994 Professor Bryan Sykes, a renowned world authority on genetics, was called in to examine the frozen remains of a man trapped in ice in northern Italy. News of the discovery of the Ice Man and his age which Professor Sykes 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 genetic ancestor 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 beforehand? In THE SEVEN DAUGHHTERS OF EVE, Bryan Sykes tells us of his scientific research into a strand of DNA, known as . mithocondrial DNA, which passes undiluted from generation to generation through the maternal line making it possible to trace one's DNA throughout the world and throughout time. After plotting the sequences of sample DNA tissue, he found that they clustered around only seven main groups. The conclusion: almost everyone of European descent, wherever they live in the world, can trace their ancestry back to one of seven women, the so-called seven daughters of Eve. He has named them: Ursula, Tara, Helena, Katrine, Xenia, Jasmine and Valda. In this remarkable scientific adventure story we learn exactly how our origins can be traced, how and where our ancient genetic clan lived, what their lives were like and how we are each living proof of the almost miraculous strength of our genetic make-up which has survived and properedover so many thousands of years. It is a book that not only presents the story of the evolution of man in a wholly new light, but also strikes right at the heart of ourselves as individuals and our sense of identity.