Genetic Adam and Eve may have walked on Earth at the same time

Library of Congress

All scientific evidence points to the fact that if you go far enough back, all life on Earth is related through common ancestry. Turns out that applying the same sort of analysis shows that all humans alive today are descendants of one man and one woman who walked our planet thousands of years ago.

For several decades, there has been debate about when these ancestors, popularly known as Y-chromosomal Adam and mitochondrial Eve, existed. Two studies published this week find that there is a good chance Adam and Eve may have existed about the same time, evolutionarily speaking.

Two pieces of DNA are responsible for starting these debates. One is the Y chromosome, which is present in the nucleus of human cells and is passed down from father to son. The other, much smaller piece of DNA, is found not in the nucleus of the cell but in its mitochondria, small compartments in the cell that provide its power. Mitochondria are passed down from a mother to her children.