The seven daughters of Eve
By: Bryan Sykes.
Publisher: Bantam Press; Norton
Published: 2001
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 306
Subjects: Human population genetics; Human evolution; Women -- Anthropometry; Evolutionary genetics
Description: "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, fascinated the world. But what made the story particularly extraordinary was that Professor Sykes was also able to track down a genetic descendant 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."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Iceman's relative found in Dorset; title: So, what is DNA and what does it do?; title: From blood groups to genes; title: Special messenger; title: Tsar and I; title: Puzzle of the Pacific; title: Greatest voyagers; title: First Europeans; title: Last of the Neanderthals; title: Hunters and farmers; title: We are not amused; title: Cheddar man speaks; title: Adam joins the party; title: Seven daughters; title: Ursula; title: Xenia; title: Helena; title: Velda; title: Tara; title: Katrine; title: Jasmine; title: World; title: Sense of self.