The Seven Daughters of Eve

In 1994, renowned geneticist Bryan Sykes was called to examine the remains of a man trapped in glacial ice in northern Italy — and what he discovered there set off a decade-long investigation into the origins of human DNA.

The Seven Daughters of Eve blends rigorous science with vivid storytelling as it traces seven distinct mitochondrial lineages back through millennia, each represented by a fictionalized portrait of an ancestral woman who carried her genetic signature forward.

Part scientific history, part speculative biography, and part meditation on what makes us human, this book uses the latest in genetics to map how ancient migrations shaped modern populations.