1991/09/27 by Linda Vigilant, Mark Stoneking, Henry Harpending +2 · 43 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Arts and Humanities · #Forensic and Genetic Research #Genetic diversity and population structure #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Mitochondrial DNA #Hypervariable region #Human evolution #Evolutionary biology #Biology #mtDNA control region #Most recent common ancestor #Ancestor #Genetics #Sequence (biology) #Population #Molecular evolution #Phylogenetics #Gene #Haplotype #Geography #Demography #Genotype
paper · doi:10.1126/science.1840702
openalex publication_date 1991/09/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The proposal that all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) types in contemporary humans stem from a common ancestor present in an African population some 200,000 years ago has attracted much attention. To study this proposal further, two hypervariable segments of mtDNA were sequenced from 189 people of diverse geographic origin, including 121 native Africans. Geographic specificity was observed in that identical mtDNA types are shared within but not between populations. A tree relating these mtDNA sequences to one another and to a chimpanzee sequence has many deep branches leading exclusively to African mtDNAs. An African origin for human mtDNA is supported by two statistical tests. With the use of the chimpanzee and human sequences to calibrate the rate of mtDNA evolution, the age of the common human mtDNA ancestor is placed between 166,000 and 249,000 years. These results thus support and extend the African origin hypothesis of human mtDNA evolution.