The Origin of Adam

“Adam,” in this case, is the single male ancestor that is the connection for all males throughout the world. The Y chromosome in every male alive today is a duplicate of the original, but is not exactly the same due to mutations. One mutation on the Y chromosome, the M168 mutation, is found in some African men and men outside of Africa. Every living male’s Y chromosome outside of Africa contains the M168 mutation and can be linked back to an African Origin.

Numerous mutations sprouted lineage in various regions throughout the world. If one man’s Y chromosome experienced a mutation, his offspring will affected and their offspring and so on. However, since there is only one Y chromosome, Wade concludes the lineage connects back to one single male. The ancestral population may have contained countless “Adams,” but only one proved to be the fittest from the group and successfully reproduced males.

Wade estimates the M168 mutation took place 44,000 years ago, prior to humans migrating away from Africa. Wade also mentions that genetic dates have a wide range of error. Gibbons states the M168 mutations may take place anytime between 39,000 and 89,000 years ago. A study conducted by Stanford University analyzed 218 markers in 1062 men from 21 different populations from various regions of Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. The study showed that all Y chromosomes shared the same M168 mutation and that the evidence indicates that modern humans originated from the humans migrating from Africa.

Sources:

Wade, N. (2006) Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors. New York: The Penguin Press

Gibbons, Ann. (2001) Modern Men Trace Ancestry to African Migrants. Science, New Series, vol. 292, No. 5519, pp. 1051-1052. Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3083624