Until January 1987 scientists believed that different groups of humans evolved in different regions separately. A groundbreaking study done by Rebecca Cann, Mark Stoneking, and Allan Wilson revealed that we all have a common ancestor. In other words we all have the same great great great great great.......................................... great grandmother who lived in Africa about 200,000 years ago and she is named as the "Mitochondrial Eve". But unlike her biblical namesake she was not the only woman in the world back then. There were other women but only her lineage survived. But what exactly is Mitochondrial eve and how do scientists claim that we all are related?
As we all know in sexual reproduction we only pass on half of our genes. So we only gift half of our information to the next generation. However we pass only one unchanged thing during reproduction.. Mitochondrial DNA which is in the mitochondria of the cell. Shortly after fertilization female egg completely destroy the mitochondria in male sperm leaving only female mitochondria behind. So it passes from generation to generation unchanged causing a direct lineage.
Now we know that we all are somehow related even though we might be White, Black, Asian or belong to any other ethnicity. So next time you are thinking of being a racist, just remind yourself that you maybe are gonna kill your 50th cousin. Forget all the science.. Just have empathy. If you don't like something happening to yourself, avoid doing that to any other living being. Colour of skin is not our choice, right? None of us chose to be born as who we are and it is not a choice any of us had. We can only live the life we got to the fullest while helping others to make this world a little bit better place than it was before we started our journey.
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