I can't get enough of this subject. This is a pretty good primer of the methods and outcomes of the investigation into the genetic legacy of humanity. When combined with, say, Svante Paabo's memoir, you can get a pretty good picture of where we came from. The science here is a bit dated now, but I don't think that should deter anyone wanted to understand where we came from and the science that tells us that.

Havva’nın 7 kızı genetik ve arkeoloji dünyasına çok uzak kişiler tarafından bile kolaylıkla anlaşılabilecek dille yazılmış çok akıcı bir kitap. Antik DNAya özel ilgim olmasının ötesinde kendimin de genetik alanında çalışan bir bilim insanı olmam sebebiyle kitabı biraz da sorgular nitelikte okumaya başlamıştım fakat kitabın dili o kadar sürükleyici ki bende çok ilginç bir etki bıraktı: Özlem. Bilimsel açlık. Ben Bryan Sykesın geçmiş insanların izini sürerken yaşadığı bilimsel heyecanı bu kitapla iliklerime kadar hissettim, merak ve arzu ile okuma keyfi yaşadım. Bana bilimsel merakı tekrar hatırlattığı için kendisine teşekkür ederim.
Ayrıca yazarın anlaşılması çok da kolay olmayan bilimsel gelişmeleri hikayeleştirme tarzı, fantezi ile karışık hikayeleştirmesinin alana uzak insanlar da dahil olmak üzere herkesin kafasında imgeler oluşturduğuna eminim.

Good points: explanation of mitichondrial DNA, explanation of scientific method/processes (lab set ups, need to share data, modification of conclusions based on additional data, impirtance of debate and critique among scientists, etc etc), chatty writing style.

Problems: These are much more complicated and can't be boiled down to a list. My first problem was the failure to credit scientists other than Watson and Crick for the DNA double-he
lix breakthrough, particularly Rosalind Franklin. I almost stopped reading at that point, but I kept on going because I wanted to learn more about DNA as historical evidence (and I am glad that I did get valuable info on that score). The Watson/Crick/Franklin problem made me more aware of how other female scientists were treated in the book, particularly Erika Hagelberg. His treatment of her was grudging in admiration of her skills but full of small put-downs from the very beginning (a highly qualified applicant, but also the ONLY applicant), up until his complaint that she refused to share data after she had left for another project, thus violating basic scientific rules of interaction and leading to his public questioning of her at a conference. (I am sure that there is another side to that story.)

My other problem with the book is its imaginative recreations of what life must habe been like for the 7 European "mothers" identified by mDNA. The writing here was not bad for what it was (not overly sentimental or melodramatic), but the scenarios were superficial. They seem to posit completely monogamous relationships (which seems beyond our available evidence), and "stay-at-home" wives and mothers. Women's role on providing food was downplayed (hunting provides most protein in hunter-gatherer diets but gathering, largely done by women, provides more calories), and even the development of agriculture (largely a female discovery according to most anthropologists) gets credited to a hypothetical disabled man with the women as his helpers. He also doesn't take into account the free time associated with hunting/gathering (work stops after you get food for a couple of days, at least until food storage and preservation are more fully developed, time that can then be spent in storytelling or other community-strengthening leisure activities) and the importance of grandparents (especially grandmothers) in raising children. (Not many made it to old age by our standards but some did every generation and they provided an evolutionary advantage.)

Other reviewers have also commented on the misleading number in the title (the 7 daughters were only the European daughters, not all of the daughters of Eve, as he freely admits--and even the European data can be divided into more mDNA lines as it turns out). Personally, this doesn't bother me too much (publishers are keen to get eye-catching titles and authors often give in).

This was recommended to me by a friend.

Overall, the writing style is for the non-scientific reader. The first half was an interesting review of the author's journey to the use of mitochondrial DNA for identifying the seven genome clusters found in most people with European lineage. The second half is a fictional narrative for each of these "daughters of Eve," placing them on the estimated timeline with some historical context for life at that time. I found them mildly interesting, but nothing more...

One thing that significantly rankled is that this author give such a overview of DNA as to essentially only mention Watson & Crick's discovery its double helical structure - completely ignoring Rosalind Franklin’s work in X-ray crystallography and the importance of a lecture that she gave in November 1951 to Crick's proclamation of finding "the secret of life" in February 1953. Now, in all honesty, this book was written over 20 years ago (2001), but as early as the 1980s and definitely by the mid-1990's there were various commemorations of her work and its specific contributions to Watson & Crick's Nobel prize in 1962.

Rating 3/5 "liked it"
9 hrs and 5 mins / 320 pages
Audiobook / Kindle

I listened to this non-fiction book while traveling. It it a fascinating discussion of the science of mitochondrial genetics (published in 2001), and I loved listening to the book. 

The author first became famous as a geneticist by getting DNA from Utzi, the hunter from five thousand years ago found in the Alps in 1991. Over the next several years the author worked on mitochondrial genetics, determing that accurate inferences of the degree of relatedness between any two people based on the number of mutations in the mitochondrial DNA could be determined. He came to the conclusion that most Europeans are descended from seven clan mothers who would have lived tens of thousands of years ago. 

In the book the author also treats the accidental nature of a lot of science (and the in-fighting in scientific circles), the murder of the Romanovs in 1918, Neanderthals, hunter-gatherers versus farmers, and determining if Polynesia was settled from east to west or from west to east. Oddly, he also has seven chapters treating the Seven European clan mothers (to whom he gave names), using a high level of imagination to describe their possible daily lives.

I loved listening to this book, and highly recommend it; and I hope that my daughter will one day have a daughter, so that my mitochondrial DNA can continue.

Hmm The first part of the book is OK. However, the third part really lets it down. While there is absolutely no doubt that people's mtDNA can be traced back to one of several haplotypes, there is debate of how many unique haplotypes there are. Why should a descendent become a new haplotype and another not? Moreover, there is absolutely no reason to believe that haplotype and fictional lifestyle in the past has any effect on anyone's current personality or lifestyle proclivities. I would definitely not pay to test my DNA for a just-so story as this.

I worked in the same Dept as the author for a few years and found the business he set up around testing people's mtDNA and then presenting them with a preprinted certificate about their clan ancestry close to charlatanry.

For all the geeky geneticists out there, a fascinating look into our history through our mitochondrial chromosomes. Sykes uses modern molecular technology to bring the history of the human race to life in a surprisingly vibrant tale of theory and discovery.

I'd been meaning to read this for a very long time. It's non-fiction (not my favorite genre) about our greatest of great grandmothers (Mitochondrial "Eve"), her seven "daughters", and the science which has helped Sykes & Co identify them. Problematic: published in 2001, there must be much more known now and I'm not sure what revisions may have been made.
Known:
* James Watson and Frances Crick identified the chromosomal components and how they worked as messengers of heredity through the "two intertwined spiral staircases- the double helix" in 1953.
* Allan Wilson published "Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution" in 1987. Mitochondrial DNA is shown to be an appropriate mechanism because time scales can be worked out by analyzing the number of mutations in the gene and because those people with similar M-DNA have been shown to be more closely related than two people with very different M-DNA.
* (At time of publishing) first fossil record of homo sapiens dated to 45,000 years ago. Sykes proved that modern Europeans traced ancestry way back to the hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic Age, with a small contribution from more recently arrived homo sapiens (farmers) in the Neolithic.
*Around 100,000 years ago homo sapiens began to move out of Africa and began colonization of the rest of the world. Sykes underscores that a small movement of people most likely accomplished this. Using fossil evidence, archaeology, and M-DNA analyses Sykes imagines the lives of Eve's seven daughters. (Eve's European branches). He sites the times (between 45,000-10,000 years ago), the geological and the climactic conditions of each of the seven women as well as how they subsisted, what technologies and social supports they developed. He tells what percentage of modern European carry each daughter's DNA.
Riddled with interesting examples: boating Polynesians, "Cheddar Man", Native American's cradle in Mongolia, etc. my reignited delight in our long and varied past made the difficult and technical slog almost worth my while.

Bu kitap için tam olarak "bilimsel bir çalışmanın nefes kesici öyküsü" denilebilir. Moleküler tıp enstitüsünde cam kemik hastalığı üzerine çalışmalar yapan bir bilim insanısınız. Hastalığın temelinde kolajen genlerindeki ufak değişikliklerin yattığını keşfediyorsunuz. İşler bir şekilde arkeolojik buluntulardan alınan DNA örneğini incelemeye kadar geliyor. Arkeolojik kemik örneklerinde çok fazla DNA olmadığı için, şansınızı arttırmak adına, miktarı daha fazla olan mitokondriyal DNA'yı incelemeye karar veriyorsunuz. Sadece anne tarafından kalıtılan mitokondriyal DNA sizi Avrupa'da yaşayan modern insanın anne tarafından birleştiği (ve en yaşlısı 45000 yıl önce yaşamış olan) 7 şanslı kadına, yani kitabın deyimiyle 7 Havva'ya götürüyor. Çünkü mitokondriyel DNA, çekirdekte bulunan DNA gibi her yavru oluşumunda yenilenmiyor, sadece mutasyona uğruyor ve siz de (kabaca) mutasyona uğramış gen sayısından geçen iki birey arasında geçen zamanı hesaplayabiliyorsunuz. Bundan daha mükemmel bir macera olabilir mi :)

İşin özü, kitap gerçekten güzel ve akıcıydı. Sadece son kısımda bulunan ve bu 7 kadının kurmaca hayat öykülerini içeren kısım çok ilgimi çekmediği için dört yıldız vermeyi uygun gördüm.

Credit where credit's due, the age of this book must be considered because 18 years is an eternity
in a field like population genetics. As an example of this, a paper that could possibly throw all of
Syke's work overboard was just published last month.

This book was misleading at best and straight-up reification of abstract concepts at worst. Misunderstandings surrounding mitochondrial "Eve" and Y- chromosomal "Adam" come to mind as well.

For that, and for not giving my ancestor Ina ("mother" of mitochondrial haplogroup B) a cool
backstory to match her descendants' amazing feat of sailing the south Pacific and, eventually, the coast of the Americas, three stars.

Just kidding.

Or not.

The book in two sections. The first is a dramatic telling of the how the science of genetics was used to establish that most of Europe's populations can be traced the seven clan mothers. The second portion is a speculative account of the lives of these seven clan mothers.

The first portion is very good. It has an entertaining account of how the science developed. I particularly liked the discussion of how new theories are valiadiated by the knowledgeable academics. This is a very important societal function. How does the world know what is "true." The process of vetting new ideas is a great story with drama and excitment.

The second portion is not as good. It is Sykes's plausible invention the lives of the seven daughters of Eve. It is probably better than a technical report of the archeological evidence, but still a but of a slog to get through.

The most interesting thing that I learned is that the Neanderthal's, and the Cro Magnum are not earlier homo sapiens but a different species altogether. This begs the question, which is not addressed the book: how do new species get started in the first place?

I loved this book, right up until Sykes felt it necessary to fictionalize the lives of representational women. To that point, The Seven Daughters of Eve was a four-star read.

After that, it becomes a two-star read. I would have far preferred for Sykes to describe the potential lives of those representational women in factual rather than fanciful terms.

Furthermore, the last chapter ("The World") was riddled with errors. First, history does not belong to one person, or one group, or one race, or one clan. That's ridiculous. In the grand scheme of things, humans are all incredibly closely related; history is thus a shared legacy, rather than an insular one.

Secondly, everything Sykes says about genealogy is wrong, completely and utterly. I spent decades researching my own family history prior to becoming a professional genealogist, and know for a fact that some of the lines he says are untraceable can be researched and put together, with two caveats: 1) At some point, the historical records disappear for everyone, and at certain times, they're simply not available, no matter who your ancestors were (although some of the records he says aren't there, are, if in limited distribution); and 2) Tracing such lineages won't necessarily be easy and may, in fact, require the skills of a highly reputable professional genealogist.

This is what happens when a non-genealogist discusses these issues; he resorts to stereotypes and popular myths.

Those last sections aside, The Seven Daughters of Eve was accessible and entertaining, while still providing an adequate overview of the processes involved.