Curious ElfFaith and religion require people to cling to myths that have no scientific theory behind them. Therefore, even scientists who believe in religion or God do not prefer spending time analysing the creation of such myths.
Although there was such a difference in opinion may be due to it, a leading genome scientist, a physician at the Washington University named Joshua Swamidass, has taken this bold step of reconciling the story of the garden of Eden with the genetic ancestry of humankind.
The Story That We Know
The story goes like God had a conversation with Adam and Eve when he told them that they could eat anything from the garden of Eden except the fruit from the tree of knowledge, updated they would die. Eve picked the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge and ate it. Since Adam was with her, he also ate it. Their eyes opened, and they lost their innocence. Hence were expelled from paradise to earth. So, according to the story, humankind is the result of the mating of Adam and Eve.
How Does Science Respond To It
But scientific estimates say that the entire human species can’t descend from a single couple; instead, it might have its origin in Africa around 600000 years before. Genetic researchers say that the modern human species is believed to have left Africa approximately 60000 to 200000 years back. The mother of womankind is most likely to belong from Africa. But details beyond that are a little fuzzy. There is an overlap with the time of Adam and Eve’s existence while tracing back the origin of time, but there is a high chance that both of them did not even know each other, let alone mating.
According to Swamidass, there is astonishing compatibility of science with the existing hypothesis that all family trees will trace back to one common group of universal ancestors in the past. The reasons why there is a relation of science with this hypothesis is
Firstly, the human population has evolved from apes and has common descent with every living being. And secondly, it could also be that Adam and Eve were a unique creation whose progeny gradually integrates with the human population that existed beyond the garden of Eden. The Bible itself states about the existence of people who had descended from a normal evolutionary process when it mentions Nephilim. So if interbreeding between the offspring of Adam and Eve and the Nephilim happened, it could be estimated that Adam’s chromosomes spread all over humanity over thousands of years, leaving this Universal ancestry with no genetic footprints.
The male gender has both X and Y chromosomes present, while females have a pair of X chromosomes. It means that the birth of a male child depends upon the chromosome passed down by the father. Considering this fact and freezing mutation or point changes in male sex chromosome can trace back to find the existence of the father of humankind. Additionally, the DNA present in mitochondria is the powerhouse of the animal cell found inside the ovum, which women pass down to their children. Treating this DNA that is present in women can reveal the maternal lineage of matter.
Another study that had been detailed in the American Journal of Human Genetics mentioned that several men in Africa had unique and divergent Y chromosomes that traced back to a further ancient man who lived approximately 237000 to 5810 00 years ago.
While genetic research is the only way to prove the human lineage, the study of genes relies on DNA samples and still has an incomplete picture of human history.
The biblical belief that humankind is an ancestor of Adam and Eve only might not be true because genetic research says that these two were not the only prehistoric humans existing. Instead, they might be two out of the thousands of people who lived at that time with an unbroken male or female lineage that continue to live today.
