Was "Mitochondrial Eve" the Eve of Genesis?

So last time we looked at Eternal Productions Scientific Fact number 37 from 101 Scientific Facts & Foreknowledge - "God has created all mankind from one blood (Acts 17:26; Genesis 5)." In their comment about this fact, they identified a study about men coming from a single ancestor. I stated studies show that 90% of all men descended from a single male ancestor. But nothing was said about women.

In 1987, a surprising study was published in the journal Nature.­ Looking at the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 147 people from across all major racial groups, researchers found that all people alive today descended from one of two genetic branches. One branch contained only families of African origin, the other covered all other groups, including some from Africa. In most species, including humans, mtDNA is inherited solely from the mother. The study showed that both branches came from one woman.

---

Every single person on Earth today can trace their origin back to a single common female ancestor

---

­The geneticists concluded from the study data that every single person on Earth today can trace their origin back to a single common female ancestor. Because both branches contained African lineage, the authors concluded that Africa was this woman's home. They called this common female ancestor "Mitochondrial Eve." The idea for this research was based on a discovery made in 1980 that when you compare the mtDNA of two humans th­e samples are very similar, more similar than with any other primate. This finding suggested that humans share a more recent common ancestor.

The 1987 study authors stated they were not implying that Mitochondrial Eve was the first or only woman on Earth at the time she lived, she was just the most recent person to whom all people can be traced. In other words, many women lived before her and many after, but her life was the point from which all modern human families grew.

So why did the study say that Eve is humanity's most recent common ancestor, and not the first woman? Science will not claim a Creator since such a statement cannot be proven scientifically. Biblically, this study would support at least the concept that all humans descended from one man and one woman. Scientifically, an evolutionary bottleneck is used to explain why Mitochondrial Eve was just the most recent ancestor. An evolutionary bottleneck is a situation where most, if not all, members of a species suddenly die out, bringing the species to the verge of extinction. This sudden decrease is most likely the result of some kind of catastrophe. Afterward, just a few members remain to repopulate the species. Such a Biblical event would have been the Flood (Genesis 6, ff). Instead of being the first woman, the study states that Mitochondrial Eve was one of only a few survivors of a near complete human destruction.

Even decades after the Mitochondrial Eve study was published, the results are still hotly debated in the scientific community. The 1987 study pointed out that somewhere down the line of history, we are all related with East Africa as the place of our origin. Although this does not prove "Adam and Eve" and there are other issues to examine, clearly this is in line with the Biblical text. If not "Mitochondrial Eve", the Bible states there was another "Eve" somewhere in our human history.

Genesis 1:27 - "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them. (NIV)"