All About Mitochondrial Eve An Interview with Rebecca Cann 英文参考文献.docVIP

Interview AllAboutMitochondrialEve:AnInterviewwithRebecca Cann JaneGitschier* DepartmentofMedicineandPediatrics,UniversityofCaliforniaSanFrancisco,SanFrancisco,California,UnitedStatesofAmerica In unearthing the genetic history of human populations, the recent pace of discovery has been so rapid that we can lose sight of the impact made by a single paper. In a 1987 Nature article, Rebecca Cann and her co-workers, Mark Stonek- ing and the late Allan Wilson, painstak- ingly analyzed mitochondrial DNA puri- fiedfromplacentasthathadbeencollected from women of many different ancestral origins. By comparing the mitochondrial DNA variants to each other, the authors producedaphylogenetictreethatshowed how human mitochondria are all related toeachotherand,byimplication,howall living females, through whom mitochon- driaaretransmitted,aredescendedfroma single maternal ancestor. Not only that, theylocalizedtherootofthetreeinAfrica. Thereportleftawake,stillripplingtoday, that stimulated not just geneticists and paleo-anthropologists,butthelaypersonas well,especiallyastheancestorwasquickly dubbed‘‘MitochondrialEve.’’Indeed,the cover of Newsweek one year later depicted an Eden, replete with apple tree and serpent,butwiththeiconicblondecouple ofDu¨rernowsupplantedbyanAdamand EveofAfricandescent. I have always marveled at this paper, particularlyasIhadgottentoknowBecky Cann (Image1) when she was in the throesofcompletingthisstudyandwriting up the 40-somethingth draft for its publi- cation.Atthetime,Ididn’tappreciatethe magnitude of what Becky had accom- plished or the implications of the work. Image1.RebeccaCann. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000959.g001 When the American Society of Human GeneticsmeetingwasheldinHonoluluin October, I arranged to interview her in herlabattheUniversityofHawaiitoelicit herreflectionsonthisdiscovery. Lenny Freed. The University’s concrete campusliesdeepwithinacanyon,itshard edges softened by mist and vegetation. Becky seems to fit right into the environ-