Since the 1980s, research has been conducted on human DNA to determine when the branches of the human family tree first separated.  The most well-known of these research efforts is the Genographic project by the National Geographic Society (www.nationalgeographic.com/genographic).

Many small mutations, called markers, have been identified in DNA samples taken from around the world.  By analyzing the patterns of mutation found in geographically isolated population groups, the rate of mutation has been estimated. 

An analogy: You could tell how long it took me to type this manuscript if you knew the number of mistakes I make per minute.  You could count the mistakes in the whole manuscript and do the math. 

The same is true with documented mutations in population groups.  The patterns of shared markers makes it possible to extrapolate when racial groups diverged from one another.  As data accumulates, the models have been refined and Anthropology continues to be rewritten. 

Even the earliest researchers concluded that we descended from one man and woman whom they dubbed Adam and Eve.  The earliest studies estimated that the point of convergence was over 200,000 years ago, and may have been influence by the pressure exerted by evolutionists.  Refinements continue to be made and current estimates are that the first humans lived no more than 75,000 years ago. 

This relatively late appearance of fully developed Homo Sapiens presents an uncomfortable problem for evolutionists who have postulated a linear progression of species differentiation from a common primate ancestor.  The small, insignificant mutations that have been identified over this narrow time span are limited to coloration of eyes, skin and hair as well as body mass, hair texture and facial characteristics like nose and eyelid formation.

At the same time, recovery and analysis of viable DNA from over a dozen geographically-dispersed Neanderthal remains has revealed a tight statistical correlation in their DNA.  Human DNA shows the same clustering, but the two groups are statistically far apart.  The conclusion: there is no possibility that the two groups are genetically related to one another.  The complete Neanderthal genome is due to be unveiled in a few months, by the group at the Max Planck Institute.  A similar conclusion has recently been derived at from Homo Erectus DNA.

So, for the first time, biological data augments what the fossil record has stubbornly demonstrated after 125 years of searching: the sudden appearance of fully-developed and differentiated species with no transitional forms.

In response, evolutionists are now suggesting that there must have been an evolutionary explosion, resulting in a multitude of hominid dead-ends.  (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17542627/site/newsweek/)  Homo Sapiens were the lucky species that evolved the right combination of traits to survive the natural selection crap shoot.

We can anticipate that the advancement of science will continue to vindicate the Biblical account, as eloquently portrayed in Robert Jastrow’s God and the Astronomers:

“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”

Regarding the point of convergence in the earliest Homo Sapien man and woman, an interesting anomaly consistently appears in the data across all studies.  The original woman, ‘Eve,’ seems to be much further back in time than the earliest man.  To date, an adequate explanation for this has not been advanced.  There seems to be no satisfactory explanation for the greater variation in the female-specific mitochondrial DNA than in the male-specific Y chromosome.

Naturalists emphasize that that men often don’t pass their Y chromosome to another generation when they have no male children, or die before procreating.  Given that men are more aggressive, expressed in warlike tendencies, large numbers of them died in battles throughout the ages.  The victors often killed all males from the vanquished tribes to suppress the possibility of future rebellion.  So, in an extreme example of survival of the fittest, the naturalists would have us believe that one man who lived tens of thousands of years after Eve, was the only one lucky enough to sire an unbroken lineage of male children.  In contrast, all other men who had lived until that time were less fortunate.  Their line of Y chromosome died out over the ages.

I believe statisticians would tell us this is beyond the realm of chance.  The early dispersion of population groups makes all derivatives of this explanation implausible. 

I would contend that a single catastrophic event is a better explanation for the disappearance of all other strains of the chromosome.  At first blush, this would seem problematic.  How could one event narrow the genetic variation in the male side of the species and not do the same to the other?

The flood is the only model that fits.  The Scriptures indicate that only eight people survived the cataclysm: Noah, his three sons, and their respective wives.  Noah passed his Y chromosome to his three sons.  Hence, no variation would be present in the only Y chromosomes to survive in the human family.  All men today are direct descendents of Noah, so he is the point of convergence.

The wives were another matter.  The Bible doesn’t specifically state it, but by chance and chance alone, at least one of them would have been from a different family.  Therefore, a certain amount of variation in their mitochondrial DNA would have been present.  Any variation at all explains the statistical anomaly in the data; the point of convergence has to be further back in time for the female half of our species.

Other blog entries you may find interesting:

The New Dark Ages: A Long Eurabian Night
Hand-Wringing Diplomacy: Mideast Peace is an Impossible Goal
Islam: What the West Needs to Know
A Woman’s Place in Islam
Islamic Law Requires Breast Feeding of Male Co-workers
What is the Qur’an? Archaeological Find Invalidates Islam’s Holy Book
Love Your Enemies and Pray For Those Who Persecute You
Madrassah Schools: Why They Pose a Threat to Western Civilization
Violence in the Bible: 1st Response to a Muslim
Validity of Scripture: 2nd Response Presents The Bible as Superior to the Qur’an
The Historic Alliance of Christianity and Science
DNA and the Flood: The Biblical Account is Written in Our Genetic Code
Jihad.com: Islamofascists Are Recruiting Via the Internet
A Brief History of Islam
Submission: The Movie That Led a Muslim to Assassinate Theo Van Gogh
Honoring America’s Fallen Warriors
Profile of A Reluctant Hero: Why Christians Should Defend Themselves
The Enlightenment of Atheism