Addresses of All Authors
Carter: Feed My Sheep Foundation, 7160 Stone Hill Rd. Livonia, NY 14487
Lee: Statistical Science Dept., University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83843
Sanford: Horticulture Section, School of Int. Pl. Sci., Hedrick Hall, Cornell University
Author's Biography
Carter:
Robert received his PhD from the University of Miami in 2003. With a background in genetics, gene cloning and sequencing, and transgenics, he soon began to work on the GENE project team (ICR), then as a speaker for Creation Ministries International. Rob was the lead editor of Evolution's Achilles' Heels (the book) and a co-producer and co-director of the award-winning documentary by the same name. Over the years, he has published multiple papers directed toward building a biblical model of human genetic history.
Sanford:
As a Cornell University professor, John has been conducting genetic research for over 30 years. This research has resulted in more than 100 scientific publications, and several dozen patents. John is presently a Courtesy Associate Professor at Cornell, President of Logos Research Associates, and President of Feed My Sheep Foundation. John’s most significant contributions to science have been: 1) the Biolistic Process; 2) the book Genetic Entropy; 3) Development of Mendel's Accountant (a comprehensive and biologically realistic numerical simulation of the mutation/selection process); and 4) lead organizer/editor of the Cornell symposium and subsequently published proceedings entitled Biological Information--New Perspectives.
Lee:
Proposal
Our paper will report an analysis of the history of the human Y chromosome. Thousands of full-length Y chromosome sequences from multiple world populations have recently become available for the first time. This data gives us an unprecedented opportunity to look backwards into human history. The Y chromosome is ideal for such analysis because it combines direct paternal inheritance with no recombination along most of its length. Any newly arising mutation that first appears in any male child will be directly inherited by every descendant of that male. This means that every branch on a phylogenetic tree of the Y chromosome reveals a historical individual, who lived at a specific time, and who is the founder (patriarch) of a unique lineage.
We use a technique called ancestral reconstruction to calculate the sequences of the major haplogroup and macrohaplogroup founders. We then compare the Y chromosome sequence of each founder to their descendants, and also to the other founders. We report three basic findings.
First, we report the sequence of each founder patriarch. We will show that three of the earliest patriarchs were very closely related. It is clear that most human male lineages trace back to just a few men who were separated by a surprisingly few number of mutations. This is remarkably consistent with the biblical account of how all males were derived from three brothers (Shem, Ham, and Japheth).
Second, we report that different lineages appear to have mutated at a different rates, suggesting that the molecular clock is not reliable. This directly contradicts one of the major assumptions behind the out-of-Africa hypothesis.
Third, we approximate the sequence of the common ancestor of the three primary patriarchs. It is possible this common ancestor is the Biblical Noah, sitting at the center of our Y chromosome phylogenetic tree. The sequence of this person, in turn, may represent a reasonable approximation of Adam’s Y chromosomal sequence. Lastly, we will attempt to put a time interval between Noah/Adam and his living descendants using published y-chromosome mutation rates, while allowing for divergent mutation rates among various lineages.
Keywords
Adam, Eve, genetics, mutation, Y chromosome, mitochondria, ancestral reconstruction, molecular clock
DOI
https://doi.org/10.15385/jpicc.2018.8.1.15
Print Reference
Pages 133-151
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Recommended Citation
Carter, R.W., S.S. Lee, and J.C. Sanford. An overview of the independent histories of the human Y-chromosome and the human mitochondrial chromosome. 2018. In Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism, ed. J.H. Whitmore, pp. 133–151. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Creation Science Fellowship.