THE EVE CONTROVERSY (evolution of human females’ mitochondria)

by; Charles Weber, MS, isoptera at att.net

The paleoanthropologists who attempt to maintain that the people of the whole human race could not have had their mitochondria derived from a single woman 200,000 years ago [Thorne 1992] or 146,000 years ago [Horai, et al 1995] or possibly 400,000 years ago (assuming some paternal input) are not considering one possible circumstance. If a woman had a mutation among her mitochondria that gave her a significant advantage, that mitochondria would spread throughout her village. Furthermore, that mitochondria would eventually take over any surrounding village which acquired an "Eve" fertile woman. The gene could even conceivably have arrived originally from another primate that was able to have viable progeny with the human branch.

If a gene arose, for instance, which enabled an "Eve" to average 10 babies in an average lifetime while all other non "eves" were averaging 9, that gene and its mitochondria associates would relentlessly supplant all others. The process would be slow and statistically uncertain at first, because an accident could remove a single individual or family. However, as the percentage of "eves" built up in the village, the continuance would become more certain and the speed of the takeover would increase. In a village maintained at 100 women, when the mathematically calculated number of "eves" passed 99 statistically there would be no "non eves", and the whole village would seem to be derived from a single couple from its mitochondria. In small populations, mitochondrial genes will either become 100% fixed or extinct. The smaller the population, the faster the result [Li].

The period when the new gene predominated in all the mitochondria of the cells would not be long either. It is possible for the percentage of the mitochondria in the cells to vary from 6% to 69% from the lung as opposed to the heart in the same individual, possibly because the mitochondria are taken preferentially [Meirelles], so a 100% takeover is theoretically possible in a couple of generations [Blok][Jenuth 1996, 1997]. There is even evidence that stem cells can insert mitochondria into other cells.

Even if a single woman was captured or seduced by a Neanderthal man in a local population of 10,000 Neanderthals, eventually "eve's" mitochondria would virtually exclude all others if it were not accidentally eliminated early on and much, much before 200,000 years. Even something as trivial as a one percent improvement in something like energy output would overwhelm the other mitochondria hosts well before such a time. Her nuclear genes, on the other hand, would likely be virtually undetectable only a few dozen generations later, and the Neanderthals would be virtually indistinguishable from their ancestors anatomically. The "Eve" gene would follow approximately the mathematical rules which bacterial genes are subject to (indeed mitochondria probably arose from a symbiosis of an ancient bacteria with eukaryote cells that permitted enormous complexity in the rest of the genome [Lane] )), not rules for nuclear genes, since mitochondria genes do not normally recombine (although they may do so occasionally [Wallis] ). This approximate bacterial rule would be especially close when all the mitochondria in an individual acquired the same advantageous gene. Bacteria have often been seen to have even trivially advantageous traits or deletions sweep through a population in a rather small number of generations.

The chance that all humans today are descended from a single couple only 200,000 years or less than 10,000 generations ago or so [Fitch p251] and still have the enormous nuclear diversity which they display today is completely impossible for hundreds of thousands of generations seem to be required [Wright p150] at least, so the above or something like it is essential. Mitochondrial DNA is poor at predicting the age of a genetic line. Low-diversity mitochondrial lineages, typically disregarded as important from a conservation standpoint, might sometimes correspond to recently selected, well-adapted haplotypes to be preserved [Bazin]. It has been estimated from analysis of the HLA immune genetic complex that human populations have never sunk down below a 50 or 100 thousand population [Ayala & Escalnte, et al1995, p205], let alone a single individual. Evidence from recessive disorders of the apolipoprotein C-II activator of lipoprotein lipase indicate that Japanese and Caucasian progenitors must have diverged two million years ago [Ayala & Escalante et al, p206]. We have seen one hundred human generations come and go with very little change in appearance, at least, judging from ancient portraits. To imprint a trivial nuclear genetic difference on a population requires large numbers of deaths or failures to reproduce. Humans have not had large numbers until recently, nor short life spans, nor have they ever had large numbers of progeny, say 100 or 200 to a woman. Trivial traits and mere differences in appearance take a long, long time to monopolize a population even when there is mild active sexual or other selection for them. Humans have a very large number of trivial differences in appearance and even a fair number of fundamental differences in organ design and enzyme systems. Humans reproduce largely by visual clues so that there is strong pressure to reject even small differences in appearance, especially in primitive societies. Humans have considerable individual and family choice in mate selection. Non gene sequences, which are subjected to zero selective pressure, show considerable per cent variation across the world [king]. In addition to all of the above, there is a definite tendency toward inbreeding within their villages and hierarchies, not from any obvious physiological bars, but only from cultural bars. Barring a drastic unknown difference in any of the above parameters in ancient times, it is safe to say that no single family could possibly have been responsible for all the present day nuclear gene variety in only 200,000 years, or even 2,000,000 years. This all the more especially so since they were proposed to be confined to Africa the first 140,000 years or so. Never mind variety, just splitting the races apart in such a time is impossible. It is thought to have taken over 12,000 years just to occupy the South American continent. Australian aborigines entered Australia 50,000 years ago [Bowler], and there is evidence that Australia was colonized by modern humans at least 50,000 or 60,000 years ago and these humans are more genetically different from Africans than any other groups are from each other. Obviously those aborigines split off from other humans then and thus left only 150,000 years or less to reach their diversity, given a single couple origin hypothesis. When human mitochondria swept across the world, but probably not from Africa (fossils show no sure evidence of modern humans in Africa [Thorne] ) and an out of Africa hypothesis is far from proven [Dennell], they would have had no problem picking up from or imparting traits to the "people" they met along the way, and surely must have. DNA analysis of bones from extinct Human races such as Denisovians show that they imparted genes to modern Humans [Calaway]. Fonda makes a persuasive case that humans arose in Eurasia and hybridized with Homo erectus and other hominids there. Part of his argument is that Eurasians are more closely related to each other than to Africans, that artifacts showed up there first, and that Africans have more diversity than Eurasians and thus were presumably hybridized with resident populations. He has reviewed more recent genetic data. The Mmacrohaplo groups, M and N, have been claimed to be of African origin, but the latest research shows that M is Asian (Indian). Further, the nuclear DNA affinities of Indians are to south east of Asia, and the south east Asians are the most divergent from Africans of any people on earth. That is in accordance with Fonda’s theory above, because Asian and African erectus were separated for nearly two million years, allowing much more divergence than the 50 or 60 thousand years that recent out of Africa populations would have had for diversity to arise and contradictory to the out of Africa hypothesis. There is a Eurasian-Hss component to both Africans and Australian DNA, and that is about the same, but the Homo erectus derived portions of the African and Australian DNA are very divergent, because the Asian and African Homo erectus components had 2 million years to diverge. Moreover, he notes that the fossil mtDNA inclusion on chromosome 11 of the nuclear DNA is very ancient, and its geographic distribution shows that it was of north east Asian origin. Since it is clearly antecedent to LM3 and all the other lineages of Australian mtDNA (except the Kow Swamp type that came in through New Guinea during the most recent ice age) belong to macro-N, he contends that N is also of archaic Asian provenance.

There were hominins in India with stone tools a million years ago [Pappu].

Fonda has presented a very elaborate analysis of Australian settlement and suggests that Australia was originally settled by central Asian migrants (some of whose descendents later became Europeans), and then were supplanted by the current aborigines, who had been hybridized with southeast Asian homo erectus.

Mishmar, et al, have found that there is a profound difference in sections of the mitochondrial genome from different sections of Asia, and that these differences seem to be related to climate primarily (you must zoom in to this PDF file). They conclude that natural selection is responsible for these fundamental differences, probably having to do with energy production, and some of them at least partly responsible for the higher metabolism of northern people.

Begun proposes that Dryopithecus ape from Europe is the ancestor of the human line (hominin) [Begun]. I think that it is highly probable that all the hominids that arose after the Miocene could hybridize.

As for humans supplanting all humanoid primates, take note that they have not even supplanted non-humanoid chimpanzees or gorillas even today. Two hundred thousand years ago humans had no obvious technological advantage over their contemporaries, surely none, at least, which could not have been easily adopted by their contemporaries, especially those that hybridized.

Language diversity also denies evolution in only 200,000 years. Africa alone has 2000 language groups that represent nearly one third of the world’s languages [Tishkoff]. There is no chance at all that that many different languages could appear from a single couple in only 200,000 years.

REFERENCES are below at the end

SOME LINKS TO EVOLUTION SITES

For speculations on termite’s evolutionary affects on soils and vertebrates see this article and its links.
For a hypothesis that the temperate deciduous forests are a function of the glaze ice zone see this article.
For speculation about the place of origin of angiosperms on the Ontong-Java Plateau see this article.
For a hypothesis which explains Permian marine phosphate deposits from translocation of phosphorus by dragonflies and other amphibious animals.

YOU MAY FIND THESE HEALTH LINKS USEFUL

. You may see here the way to acquire a very comprehensive book about potassium nutrition and physiology. It is called “POTASSIUM NUTRITION in Heart Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout, Diabetes, Metabolic Shock (hyperkalemia), and High Blood Pressure”. The table of contents and the introduction are shown.
Use of raw cashew nuts to cure tooth abscess or infection.
Some suggestions for ameliorating chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.
There is also an article which proposes some speculation about diabetes.
Fluoride in city water will cause fluorosis discoloration of teeth, weakened bones, damage to the kidneys and immune system, bone cancer and, worst of all, damage to the nerves resembling Alzheimer’s disease.

You may see a site that contains reviews of natural remedies for many diseases .

For a procedure that discusses tetrathiomolybdate for removing copper and thus preventing further solid cancer growth and Hodgkin’s, see this site. This might buy some time until you can persuade a doctor to try tumor necrosis factor or interferon or an opioid antagonist drug called Naltrexone (Naltrexone in the large 50mg size, originally manufactured by DuPont under the brand name ReVia, is now sold by Mallinckrodt as Depade and by Barr Laboratories under the generic name naltrexone) that blocks some endorphin receptors. Said blockage is thought to cause the body to temporarily secrete more endorphins, especially after midnight at night. These endorphins are thought to stimulate the immune system, and in particular to stimulate the TH-1 or type 1 antiviral response by decreased interleukin-4 and with increased gamma interferon and interleukin-2 and a simultaneous decrease of type 2 anti bacterial response [Sacerdote]. It appears to be especially effective for minimizing symptoms and retarding progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) (also see these sites; this site and this site, and even to some extent in cancer. Low doses of Naltrexone (LDN), 1.5 to 4.5 milligrams, at bedtime is used (timing is important, and it is important not to buy slow release forms). It is said to have no known bad side effects at those doses other than insomnia the first week or two in some. There is also reports from an extensive survey in this site. I think some more clinical studies on Naltrexone are in order, and it should not be a prescription drug. Though side effects appear unlikely, it is not proven over longer periods. If you try it (it is a prescription medicine in the USA), it seems likely that you should discontinue if you get a bacterial infection in view of its inhibition of antibacterial response. Dr. Gale Guyer of Advanced Medical Center located in Zionsville, Indiana also is using it for cancer. Dr. Bihari has shown promising results for a large percentage of his cancer patients.

Olive leaf extract has shown clinical evidence of effectiveness against a wide range of viruses, including AIDS [Bihari], herpes, and cold viruses. It sometimes produces a Herxheimer or pathogen die off symptoms (from effectiveness against bacteria?). There is evidence that it is synergistic (reinforce each other) with Naltrexone. There have been a few case histories of improvement in what were probably arthritis patients and CFIDS patients. The active ingredient is said to be oleuropein or enolate. There has been very little follow up research done on it.

Also it has been found that curcumin in turmeric or curry powder will inhibit several forms of cancer, including melanoma. People who live in India where these spices are eaten, have one tenth the cancer elsewhere. Here is an article with anecdotal evidence for pressurized oxygen, zinc, vitamin B6, and vitamin C after head injuries. They also claim a fair percentage of prison inmates from psychiatric disorders after head injuries.
See this site for evidence of a correlation between magnesium deficiency and cancer. The taurate is proposed as the best magnesium supplement. Taurine or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is an acidic chemical substance sulfonated rather than carboxylated found in high abundance in the tissues of many animals (metazoa), especially sea animals. Taurine is also found in plants, fungi, and some bacterial species, but in far less abundance. It is an amine with a sulfonic acid functional group, but it is not an amino acid in the biological sense, not being one of the twenty protein-forming compounds encoded by the universal genetic code. Small polypeptides have been identified as containing taurine, but to date there has been no report of a transfer RNA that is specifically charged with taurine [from Wikipedia]. It is essential to babies. It has been found that supplements of the amino acid, taurine, will restore the abnormal electrocardiogram present during a potassium deficiency by an unknown mechanism. This information has been used in several case histories by George Eby to control a long standing type of cardiac arrhythmia called pre atrial contractions (PACs), a benign but irritating and nerve racking heart problem, with 2.5 grams of taurine with each meal. . Taurine is said to be low in the diets of vegetarians. The 2.5 grams recommended by the American Heart Association causes diarrhea in some people and should probably be reduced in those people. Taurine has been used for high blood pressure, migraine headache, high cholesterol, epilepsy, macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disorders, alcoholism, and cystic fibrosis, and depression. . Keep in mind that some people may have a genetic defect that limits the amount of taurine tolerated and that adequate molybdenum may desirable.

A site is available which shows. foods which are high in one nutrient and low in another (including calories). This last site should be especially useful for a quick list of foods to consider first, or for those who must restrict another nutrient because of a genetic difficulty with absorption or utilization.

The very extensive USDA Handbook #8 may be seen here. To access the information you must press "enter" to search, and then divide Kcal into milligrams of potassium. This last table is very comprehensive, is used in search mode, and even lists the amino acids. There are also links in it to PDF types of printouts from the table for individual nutrients available here Just click on the “A” or “W” button for the nutrient you desire. A table that has already done the potassium calculation is here in descending concentration or in alphabetical order. There is a free browser called Firefox, which is said to be less susceptible to viruses or crashes, has many interesting features, imports information from Iexplore while leaving Iexplore intact. You can also install their emailer. A feature that lists all the URLs on a viewed site can be useful when working on your own site.

If you have Iexplore, there is a tool bar by Google that enables you to search the internet from the page viewed, mark desired words, search the site, give page rank, etc.

There is a free program available which tells on your site what web site accessed you, which search engine, statistics about which country, statistics of search engine access, keywords used and their frequency. It can be very useful.

All printed rights to this article are reserved. Electronic rights are waived.

Mail to Charles Weber; isoptera at att.net --- or phone = 828 692 5816 (USA).

REFERENCES

Ayala, F.J. The myth of eve: molecular biology and human origins. Science 270,1930-1936 (1995).

Ayala FG Escalante A O'huigin C Klein J 1995 Molecular genetics of speciation and human origins. in; Fitch WM Ayala FJ eds. Tempo and Mode in Evolution. National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC.

Bazin E Glemin S Galtier N 2006 Population size does not influence mitochondrial genetic diversity in animals. Science 312 : 570-576

Begun DR Gurche J 2003 Planet of the apes. Scientific American 289; 74.

Bihari B 1995 Efficacy of low dose Naltrexone as an immune stabilizing agent for treatment of HIV/AIDS [letter] AIDS Patient Care 9; 3.

Blok RB Gook DA Thorburn DR Dahl HH 1997 Skewed segregation of the mtDNA nt 8993 (T--.!G) mutation in human oocytes. American Journal of Human Genetics 60; 1495-1501

Bowler JM Johnston H Ollay JM Prescott JR Roberts RG Shawcross W Spooner NA 2003 New ages for human occupation and climatic change at Lake Mungo, Australia. Nature 421;837-840.

Calaway E 2011 Ancient DNA reveals secrets of human history. Nature 476; 136-137.

Dennell K Roebroeks 2005 An Asian perspective on early human dispersal from Africa. Nature 438; 1099-1104.

Fitch WM Ayala FJ, eds. 1995 Tempo and Mode in Evolution. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.

Horai,S Hayasakia, K Kondo, R Tsugane, K Takahata, N. Recent African origin of modern humans revealed by complete sequences of hominoid mitochondrial DNAs. Proc.Natl. Acad. Sci. 92,

Jenuth JP Peterson AC Fu K & Shoubridge EA 1996 Random genetic drift in the female germline explains the rapid segregation of mammalian mitochondrial DNA. Nature Genetics 14; 146-151

Jenuth JP Peterson AC Shoubridge EA 1997 Tissue-specific selection for different mtDNA genotypes in heteroplasmic mice. Nature Genetics 16; 93-95.

Meirelles FV & Smith LC 1997 Mitochondrial genotype segregation in a mouse heteroplasmic lineage produced by embryonic karyoplast transplantation. Genetics 145;445-451

King MC Motulsky AG 2002 Mapping human history. Science 298; 2342-2342.

Lane N Martin W 2010 The energetics of genome complexity. Nature 467; 929-834.

Li CC 1976 First Course in Population Genetics. Boxwood Press, Pacific Grove, CA.

Meirelles F Smith LC 1998 Mitochondrial genotype segregation during preimplantation development in mouse heteroplasmic embryos. Genetics 148; 877-883

Pappu S et al 2011 Early Pleistocene presence of Acheulian hominins in South India. Science 331; 1596-1598.

Thorne,A.G. Wolfe, MH.The multiregional evolution of humans. Sci. Am. 266, 76-83 (1992).

Tishkoff SA 2009 The genetic structure and history of Africans and African Americans. Science 324; 1035-1044.

Wallis GP 1999 Do animal mitochondrial genomes recombine? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 14; 209-210.

Wright S 1931 Evolution in mendelian populations. Genetics 16; 97-150.


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Updated April 2014.