Genetic 'Adam' and 'Eve' Uncovered

Almost every man alive can trace his origins to one man who lived about 135,000 years ago, new research suggests. And that ancient man likely shared the planet with the mother of all women. The findings, detailed today (Aug. 1) in the journal Science, come from the most complete analysis of the male sex chromosome, or the Y chromosome, to date. The results overturn earlier research, which suggested that men's most recent common ancestor lived just 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. Despite their overlap in time, ancient "Adam" and ancient "Eve" probably didn't even live near each other, let alone mate