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Felix Lee
AP Biology
Nelson
6/8/14
The Seven Daughters of Eve Review
Summary
The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes documents many different scientific
concepts relating to the history of humankind. The book can be By discovering a method in
which Professor Sykes could extract and replicate DNA from ancient bones, he discusses how
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can be used to trace peoples ancestries back to one of seven
women that inhabited the earth (hence the title of the book). The second part of the book
becomes a bit more fictional, in which Sykes creates stories relating to the seven daughters of
Eve. By explaining these complex concepts through stories, Sykes allows his research to
become more personal and easy to comprehend.
Scientific concepts
1. DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid is one of the most important concepts in this book.
Sykes dedicates a chapter into describing DNA and its history. Watson and Crick
were able to discover the structure of DNA and describe how the nucleotide bases
work, which is crucial to the theme of the book which is about genetics.
2. Mitochondria Sykes discusses the function of mitochondria, which is to perform
respiration for the cell, and its history of how mitochondria were once free-living
cells but invaded advanced cells and slowly became a part of them. This is important

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due to the fact that the DNA found on the mitochondria was crucial to Sykes
research.
3. Mitochondrial DNA Sykes uses mitochondrial DNA, which is a small amount of
DNA (only 16.5 thousand bases in length), formed into a circle, to do his research.
Through looking at mitochondrial DNA, Sykes was able to discover that certain
haplogroups existed on these mtDNAs which eventually traced back each person to
a female ancestor.
4. Polymerase chain reaction Sykes discusses how PCR was a very important factor in
his research. PCR was used to amplify a small amount of DNA extracted from a 5000
year old corpse. This allowed Sykes to discover that ancient DNA was near identical
to todays DNA.
5. Heredity Sykes discusses how ones chromosomes determine their characteristics.
Sykes discusses in great detail how chromosomes are inherited equally from both
parents during fertilization which is important as the book is about inheriting
mitochondrial DNA from the mother.
6. Blood groups Blood groups are important in the novel as different blood types were
an important concept that scientists noticed during the 17
th
century. By figuring out
the patterns in the inheritance of blood types which was simple, scientists launched
genetics on to the world stage of human evolution.
7. Genetic drift Genetic drift, brought about by the random survival and extinction of
genes through generations, frequencies of genes changed and populations of vastly
different genes were created. This is important because these different populations are
related to the different daughters of Eve.

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8. Germline cells Sykes discusses mutations in DNA in the book. Germline cells are
cells that produce egg or sperm and if there is a mutation in the germline cells, the
mutation passes onto the offspring. This is important as this created genetic drift.
9. Somatic cells Somatic cells, which are cells that arent germline cells, do not pass
on mutations to offspring. Although most mutations do not have any effect, in rare
cases mutations can lead to severe genetic diseases which change the gene frequency.
10. Sickle cell anemia & malaria Sykes discusses why sickle-cell anemia is frequent in
Africa but not in other regions. This is because malaria, which is a common disease in
Africa, finds it more difficult to infect the cells of a sickle-cell anemia gene carrier
allowing more sickle-cell anemia alleles to exist in Africa. This information is
important as it is an example of genetic drift.
Evaluation
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to others who are interested in
the history of humans and genetics. Even those who are not familiar with the topic should give it
a try. The information in the book is very easy to digest and Sykes successfully keeps the reader
engaged. The book allowed me to better understand many of the concepts we learned in class
relating to genetics and DNA. The information in the first section of the book was very well
backed up by Sykes research. However, the second section of the book strayed off and became
more anecdotal as the stories of the seven daughters of Eve were educated guesses at most.
Despite this, the book was very interesting and had a lot of accurate information.
Sykes, Bryan. The Seven Daughters of Eve. London: Bantam, 2001. Print.


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