The Journey from the Garden of Eden to the world

III. The migration routes and distribution of modern man can be seen through DNA decoding

1. The Genographic Project

The Genographic Project which was started in 2005 and the major research item were to collect DNA samples from 100,000 people from different ethnic groups. After analysis of their Y chromosomes and mitochondrial genetic markers to establish a common database of mankind’s hereditary markers, thereby constructing the paternal tree lineage and maternal tree lineage of the entire human race. From this database one can refine mankind’s entire family history, the migration history as well as the ethnic distribution map.

The Genographic Project has nothing to do with projects related to gene and geography for its purpose is not to investigate human genes and their geographical distribution. Instead, it is to study the inheritance of male and female lineage and their geographic distribution. The male inheritance lineage comes for the Y chromosome genetic markers and the female inheritance lineage comes from the mitochondrial genetic markers. A more precise name for the Genographic Project should be “A project to study the geographical distribution of genetic markers”.

In addition to the initial 100,000 participants, the Genographic Project is also open to the public. More than 390,000 people were part of this research project by purchasing kits and submitted their DNA samples individually for analysis in order to determine their own hereditary lineage. Their results were then published anonymously online. Armed with these data plus over a million data from other organizations, we finally has a clearer understanding of our own past history hidden in our blood stream.

2. Modern man outside of Africa

In the previous parts, we focus on mankind’s paternal and maternal lineage trees all related to mankind’s blood relationships. In this part and the following two parts, we will discuss mankind’s lineage and its geographical distribution in the world.

The development of the Genographic Project is inseparable from the research results conducted at Stanford University (Please see Part 2). Molecular anthropologist, Dr. Spencer Wells, was a leader as well as a team member of the Genographic Project. Fully committed to this project, Dr. Wells courageously went around the world to film many TV series which are worth viewing.

The results from the “Genographic Project” further confirmed the results form the aforementioned research team. The collection and analyses of tens of thousands of Y chromosome samples not only confirmed but enriched the Y chromosome paternal tree they have constructed. On top of DNA genetic markers analyses no only confirmed that every person on earth shares a common paternal and maternal ancestors but also there are only a handful of descendants from them who lasted until the present time. Another amazing fact is this: all modern males outside of Africa share a common male genetic marker M168. Moreover, both males and females share a common female genetic marker L3.

What this means is that a long time ago in the body of a male mutational change created the M168 genetic marker. This person with the first M168 genetic marker was the paternal ancestor of modern man outside of Africa. Similarly, there was a female first to carry the L3 genetic marker who was the maternal ancestor of all modern humans outside of Africa. Even though it is unlikely that these two were husband and wife at the same period of time, nonetheless, this does not change the fact that they were the common ancestors of the present 6 billion people on earth outside of Africa. There are many different branches including us after them. Please refer to Part 2, Figure 2-5 The Paternal genetic tree and Figure 2-11 The Mitochondrial lineage tree.

3. Those who remain in Africa

The hometown of mankind is Africa. The genetic markers in modern Africans are not as simple as those who migrated outside of Africa. From the DNA samples collected in Africa by the Genographic Project, there are very few individuals who carry the M168 and L3. Most Africans do not have the M168 and L3 genetic markers. However, they have other genetic markers not found in those who live outside of Africa.

M60 and M91 are the major genetic markers found in the Y chromosomes of Africans.

In the various African tribes and African countries, those with a larger percentage of M60 are listed below:

Gabon, Cameroon and the Central African Republic Baka people (Baka): 63% -72%;
Tanzania's Hadza people (Hadzabe): 52% -60%;
South Sudan Nuer (Nuer): 50%.
Congo (gold) of the Mbuti people (Mbuti): 33% -60%.
[Baka 63% -72% (Gabon, Cameroon, CAR), Hadzabe (Tanzania) 52% -60%,
Nuer (South Sudan) 50%, Mbuti (DRC) 33% -60%].

Figure 5-9 Photo of African ethnic group who carries the M60 in their Y chromosome

In the various African tribes and African countries, those with a larger percentage of M91 are listed below:

Tsumkwe San (Namibia) 66% Nama (Namibia) 64%

Dinka (Sudan) 62% Shilluk (Sudan) 53%

Figure 5-10 Photo of African ethnic groups who carry the M91 in their Y chromosome

From the above photos we can see the difference in skin color even though they are male descendants of M60 and M91.This most likely is due to how they live and the geographical environment. For example, the Sudan region is closer to the equator where the sunlight is very intense. Therefore, the inhabitants here will have darker skin color. Among the children and grandchildren of M168 who lived outside of Africa, those who live in India has a darker skin color than those living in the Nordic countries. Obviously, changes in skin color should not be seen as part of evolution. Differences in skin color do not reflect difference in the degree of evolution. Some people use “microevolution” to explain the difference in skin color which is clearly wrong.

If everybody who lives outside of Africa are descendants of M168 and their ancestors migrated from Africa, is there any of our relatives with M168 genetic markers in Africa today?

From the DNA samples collected in Africa, the answer to this question is yes. For example among the 70 Y chromosome samples collected from the three tribes from Ethiopia ( Wolayta tribe, Oromo and Amhara tribes), there are 40 samples with the M215 ( M125 is a branch of M168) genetic marker or 57% (Reference 5).

Figure 5-11 Photo of African ethnic group who carries the M168 in their Y chromosome

Those females relatives who remained in Africa have a more complicated relationship than their male counterpart. As seen in Part Figure 2-11 on mankind’s map of the maternal tree, one can find the descendants of the seven maternal branches, L0 to L6, in Africa. Only part of L3 descendants left their hometown.

IV. Man M168 and female companion L3

1. Y chromosome genetic marker M168 and mitochondrial DNA haplogroup L3

The first man with the M168 genetic marker was the male ancestor of all modern man who live outside of Africa. Likewise, the first woman with the L3 genetic marker was the female ancestor of all modern man who live outside of Africa. For anthropological researchers, these conclusions are just as earth shaking as the hypothesis that everybody on earth came from the same parent. But is this is really true? Did 6 billion people come from one male ancestor and one female ancestor?

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For over two hundred years, the only ways to trace the origin of human beings were by comparing fossils and drawing inferences from skeletal anatomies. Now we have a solid scientific foundation when the scientific method of DNA decoding is applied to anthropology. Some people believe that analyzing the DNA of modern human beings is an indirect method for tracing the origin of human beings and that the only direct method is by analyzing fossils. The reason for such a misunderstanding is an ignorance of the scientific principles of molecular anthropology. Which result is more reliable, a paternity test or a comparison of physical appearances? The most reliable and direct evidence is from DNA. This DNA evidence is the basis of molecular anthropology concerning the origin of man and his or her migration. So, what is the M168 genetic marker? To fully understand this we need to start with DNA.
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As mentioned before, DNA is present in both the chromosomes and mitochondria of every cells in our body. Half of the 46 chromosomes (23 pairs) come from the father and the other half from mother. Each chromosome contains DNA. Within DNA, the most important elements include the A,T,C, and G letter codes representing the four different nucleobases. These nucleobases are the fundamental elements in passing hereditary information to future generations. The DNA molecular structure is similar to a spiral staircase with each nucleobase pair constituting a “step”.

The longest chromosome is chromosome 1 with 249,250,621 “steps”. East step can have four combinations: AT, TA, CG, GC. These four kinds of combination are similar to the computer procedures in 0 and 1. Even though the computer program executes based on just two digits, however, it can perform a myriad of complex processes. Likewise, with DNA’s four combination codes, they can express more complex human genetic information.

Figure 5-12 illustrates the change in nucleobase on M168 in the Y chromosome. In the Y chromosome loci standard (NCB136) from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, on nucleobase pair locus number 1332385, nucleobase C underwent mutational change and became T. Similar to what is described in Part 2 on seeking Y chromosome Adam, during the male fetal development from a fertilized egg in our ancestor living in Africa 100,000 years ago, a sudden mutational change occurred on the locus of the Y chromosome thus forming this genetic marker. We can call him as the ancestor of M168 genetic marker.

All the descendants who came after him all carried this genetic marker. Since then, there had been no further change in locus. Regardless of where you are in this world, as long as the Y chromosome in you or your father or brother (speaking for women) carries this genetic marker, then you are the descendants of M168. Otherwise, you are not his descendants (Reference 6).

The source of the information above comes from the Y-DNA SNP Index (2011) published by The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG)

http://www.isogg.org/tree/ISOGG_YDNA_SNP_Index11.html

Figure 5-12 M168 Genetic Marker

Indeed, the 500,000 “steps” of the Y chromosome is so lengthy! In human genetics, the M168 genetic marker which passed from one male to the 3 billion males living outside of Africa over several thousand generations through several billions of replications of fertilizations and cell divisions and yet this nucleobase remains immutable in the same locus is indeed an amazing fact. From this one can see the degree of rigor built into the replication process. Unless there are new genetic markers being recorded, there is no “evolutionary” change on the Y chromosome.

On the mitochondrial L3 genetic marker, we see the same situation. As see in Figure 2-10 Mitochondrial lineage tree in Page 2 of Part 2, there are three mutations (A769G, A1018G, C16311T) on the three loci of mitochondrial L3 genetic marker. Simply put, regardless of gender, if the letters on the mitochondrial DNA loci 769, 1018 and 1611 are G,G, T respectively, you must be a descendant of great, grandmother L3. Mitochondrial DNA has only 16569 genetic codes thus it is much simpler than the Y chromosome. The aforementioned conclusion has been reconfirmed from analyses of several millions of blood samples.

Some one might ask this question: Were M168 and L3 husband and wife?

The M168 marker was created around 90,000 years ago. We know this based on the time when the descendants of M168 crossed Bab-el-Mandeb, or The Gate of Grief.

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Even though the L3 genetic marker may have been created around 90,000 years ago, it is also possible that this date might differ by several hundred and even thousands of years. Therefore, it is unlikely that M168 and L3 were husband and wife.
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If so, how could they be the ancestors of the grandfather and grandmother of the 6 billion people living on earth today?

In reality, the answer is quite simple. If L3 was born first and her husband was the grandfather of M168, then when M168 was born the young ladies in their tribe must be the descendants of L3. When M168 married one of these young ladies and have children and became a tribe later on. Then, every one in this tribe must be the descendants of M168 and L3. A small portion of the tribe left Africa and reproduced until the present time forming the 6 billion people. Therefore, they are the common paternal and maternal ancestors of the present day 6 billion people on the land of outside of Africa. (Reference 7).

If we can understand this point, then there should be no doubt in our mind that they were our common paternal and maternal ancestors even though Y chromosome Adam and mitochondrial Eve may have lived several thousands of years apart.

DNA decoding reveals to us our past history, namely tens of thousands years ago several small groups of people which the molecular anthropologists estimate to be around two to three hundred left Africa at different times and reached Asia, Europe, later to Australia and Americas. With the passage of time, they grew to become the current 6 billion peoples on the present day 6 billion people on the land of outside of Africa. From the genetic markers on their Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA, one can tell that they have a common paternal and maternal ancestors.

2. Across the “The Gate of Grief”

The northern part of Africa is the Sahara Desert. In the history of mankind, except for a short period of time 125,000 years ago when conditions were favorable for human survival, this place is uninhabitable the rest of the time. The only possible way out of Africa was to cross the Red Sea’s Bab al Mandab strait which means “The Gate of Grief” in Arabic. The width of this strait is more than 30 KM 100,000 to 130,000 years ago. Even though 30 KM is not that wide but it must have been an impassable journey for the ancient people tens thousands of years ago. For this reason, even though ancient modern man had been living near the strait of Ethiopia’s Awash river Herto region for 160,000 years ago, however, they could not cross this strait for a long, long time. Not until 88,000 to 90,000 years ago, the new ice age caused the sea level to drop 50 meters or more along with the reduction of the width across the strait to 10 KM which provided the opportunity for the ancient people to cross the strait.

In Part 4 “Ancient Indians Living Under the volcano Dust”, the readers have already seen that ancient modern man had lived there around 77,000 years ago. This very fact confirms the timing of ancient people crossing the strait as being reasonable.

Figure 5-13: The migratory routes of the various groups of Y chromosome genetic markers

Figure 5-14- Migratory routes of various groups of mitochondrial DNA haplogroups

3. Pioneer expeditions: the sons and daughters of M130 and M174 men

From Figure 2-5 in Part 2 on mankind’s paternal lineage tree, one can be certain that M168’s descendants were P143 and M145. M130 and M89 are underneath P143. M145’s descendants were M96 and M174. P143 and M145 were the two earlier children of M168 who were born tens thousands of years later than M168.

The birth of these two could have been separated by thousands of years. There is hard evidence that they once had lived based on molecular anthropological research. We can actually see them just because they left behind 6 billion of sons and grandsons who are living today. From the DNA of modern man living outside of Africa, we can see that the descendants of M168 who left Africa included only descendants of M130 and M174. The date they left African was approximately 80,000 years ago.

Who are the descendants of M130? You must be the descendants of M130 if you have markers M168 and M130 genetic markers. Similar to M168 genetic marker, the unique characteristic of M130 is that at 2794854 locus on the Y chromosome (NCB136 standard) the nucleobase letter C suddenly became T. On the Y chromosome demarcation, the descendants of M130 all belong to the C haplogroup. From the Genographic Project research, we find that the descendants of M130 are mainly distributed in east Asia, Australia and the Americas.

The migratory route of M130’s children and grandchildren was along the coast passing the Arabian peninsular to Iran, India, Indochina and then one branch went northward to northeastern part of China, the Korean peninsular and Japanese archipelago, another branch went south to Indonesia, Australia and the Pacific islands; the third brand went north into Siberia until they reached North America. Since M130 is not found in modern day African, therefore, the first person with the M130 genetic marker must have been born in western Asia.

The distribution ratios of M130-C haplogroups in different countries and regions in the world differ depending on which research article you read. However, the general trend is consistent. For example among the aborigines in Australia the average of three reports, the distribution is 52%, 8.5% in Japan (259 samples), 53% in Mongolia (65 samples), 9.1% in Korea (317 samples), 6.3% in India (931 samples), 6% in China’s Han ethnic group (166 samples), 29% in China’s Hoche ethnic group(45 samples),45% in North American aborigines for example in the Alaska’s Tanana region (15 samples). 35% in the Canadi a Dogrib Indians (11 samples) (Reference 9).

After the batch of M168 descendants crossed “The Gate of Grief” 90,000 years ago, they created M130 as they migrated. M130’s descendants reached India 80,000 years ago, China (Liuqiang) 70,000 years ago, Australia 60,000 years ago, North America via the Bering Strait 15,000 years ago. Using DNA decoding as the foundation and archeological and various dating methods as reference, we could depict the history and migratory routes of mankind’s earliest expedition.

4. The journey of M89’s descendants

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The first man with the M89 marker was born 50,000 years ago in the southern part of Asia. They were descendants of M168. From Figure 5-15 one can see the migratory routes of the descendants up to M89. His descendants include three large ethnic groups, M170, M173, M175 which account for the majority of the population living in Europe and Southeast Asia. In Part 2, we have already discussed the birth and distribution of M173 and M175.

Here we will introduce a descendant of M89, namely, the children and grandchildren of the male carrying the M170 genetic marker. M170 was born about 40,000 years ago. Among humans living today, those living in southern and northern part of Europe have the highest proportion of population carrying this genetic marker. For example in Romania, 53 out of 121 blood samples collected belong to M170 i.e. 44%. What this means is that close to half of the Romanians are descendants of M170. Is there any evidence of ancient in the Romania?

In 2002, ancient fossils were discovered in the Pestera cu Oase Cave in Romania’s Anina region. After carbon 14 analysis by scientists, the age of the skeletal fossils were dated to 34,000 years ago.

Erik Trinkaus, professor of anthropology at Washington University in Missouri, and one of the first specialists to study the bones in detail, said the jaw was the oldest, directly-dated modern human fossil. "Taken together, the material is the first that securely documents what modern humans looked like when they spread into Europe," he said.

Forensic artist, Richard Neave carefully measured the skull fragments and then based on his many years of experience with facial soft tissue and skull contours, he reconstructed a clay model of the face of the ancient modern man. He said:” In fact, this face looks like a mixture of the three ethnic groups, namely, European, Asian and African. This is probably the earliest modern humans who arrived in Europe.” (See Figure 5-15).

Figure 5-15 Reconstructed bust of the ancient modern European from 34,000 years ago

When we compare the reconstructed bust of the ancient modern man from Romania 34,000 years ago with the reconstructed bust of the Omo ancient modern man, we could hardly find any difference. The difference between these two ancient modern men is no greater than the difference between two individuals living today. A lapse of 160,000 years fails to leave any trace of “evolution” in these two ancient modern men. People who hold the view that those people who left Africa must resembled “apes” firmly believe the “ gradual evolution during migration” hypothesis. This belief is pure imagination lacking in hard evidence.

Reference：

1.Human origin sites and the World Heritage Convention in Africa, World Heritage, 2012.

2. Michael Hopkin, Ethiopia is top choice for cradle of Homo sapiens, Nature New,16 February 2005.

3.Marian Vanhaeren, et al., Middle Paleolithic Shell Beads in Israel and

Algeria, SCIENCE VOL 312 23 JUNE 2006.

4.Fulvio Cruciani,et al., Phylogeographic Analysis of Haplogroup E3b (E-M215) Y Chromosomes Reveals Multiple Migratory Events Within and Out Of Africa,Am. J. Hum. Genet. 74:1014–1022,2004。

5.The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG),Y-DNA SNP Index – 2011.

http://www.isogg.org/tree/ISOGG_YDNA_SNP_Index11.html

6.Anton Vaks, et al.,Desert speleothems reveal climatic window for African

exodus of early modern humans, GEOLOGY, September 2007.

7．Pedro Soares1,et al., The expansion of mtDNA haplogroup L3 within and out of Africa,The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution UK （L3）

8.N.J.Shackleton,Oxygen isotopes, Ice Volume and Sea Level, Quaternary Science Reviews Vol.6,1987.

9. Ripan Singh Malhi, et al., Distribution of Y chromosomes among Native North Americans: A study of Athapaskan population history, PMC，December 1 2009

10.Haplogroup D-M174：Hong Shi1, et al., Y chromosome evidence of earliest modern human settlement in East Asia and multiple origins of Tibetan and Japanese populations, BMC Biology 2008.

11. Earliest European Modern Humans Found, Science News, Sep. 24, 2003

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