Mitochondrial Eve Problems

The use of cellular mitochondria mutations that pinpoint an origin date and a common group of female ancestors for modern humans has run into a small problem. A group of Danish researchers have found a man who appears to have inherited a substantial portion of his mitochondria from his male parent. Previously, this was thought an impossibility. The use of mitochondria in genetic archeology has always proceeded from the assumption that mitochondria evolved only matrilineally so now the possibility that there could be patrilineal lines of descent is problematic. But even if the Danish work is duplicated, the overwhelming tendency in Nature favours matrilineal descent and so shouldn’t throw off the common female ancestor conclusions of the theory, but merely obfuscate the exact date. But the date for the common male human ancestor may go through some radical rethinking. It’s another kink in the “Out Of Africa” theory, and unforseen mitochondrial complexities have also bollixed up some pet mammalian evolutionary theories.

Mitochondria is cool in general. It’s the remains of bacterial invaders absorbed into symbiosis within our ancestors’ cells billions of years ago. Perhaps unluckily for variety within the porn industry, one drastic effect of incorporating mitochondria within ourselves meant the number of possible reproductive genders was generally cut down to the binary female/male roles we see in the plant and animal kingdom. Fungi, which evolved a totally different response to mitochondrial invasion, make do with thousands of reproductive genders. And I note that last year the first genetically altered posthumans were created using mitochondrial engineering.