Adam and Eve   Video Overview Class Description Report Condensed Report Raw Data   Adam and Eve Summary [Updated 10/17/08] Genetics research published in 2006 parallels The Urantia Book’s story about Adam and Eve in seven ways and also supports its version of when humanity began. The Adam and Eve story in The Urantia Book is considerably different than the one that appears in the Old Testament, though there are also some important similarities. According to the authors of The Urantia Book, humanity started approximately one million years ago and Adam and Eve were a genetically superior couple who lived approximately 38,000 years ago. It gives a detailed account of the civilization that was started by Adam and Eve and the migration history and intermixing of their descendants with the rest of humanity. Research results published in 2006 by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Chicago parallel The Urantia Book’s story about Adam and Eve in seven ways and also supports the assertion that humanity began approximately one million years ago. The parallels to the Adam and Eve story include issues related to time, location, migration patterns, the rate of the admixture with the rest of the population, and the manner of introduction of the genetic upgrade. (Several decades after The Urantia Book’s publication, sonar readings in the eastern Mediterranean basin provided powerful support for its description of the location of the Garden of Eden. See Garden of Eden Report.)

Adam and Eve: Class A Report
[Updated 10/17/08]

This report focuses on genetics research that was published in 2006. This research parallels The Urantia Book's story about Adam and Eve in seven ways. Additionally, it also correlates with its story about the origins of humanity. (The Urantia Book says that Adam and Eve upgraded human genetics, not that they were the first human beings.) Because this report correlates two different stories about human history in multiple ways and does so regarding new discoveries in genetics of which researchers were completely unaware when The Urantia Book was published in 1955, this is a Class A report.

Adam and Eve Report
Prepared by Halbert Katzen, JD with special thanks to Fred Harris
[Updated 8/2/07]

This report involves material about genetics research that is rather complex. Every effort was made to only use quotes that would be the easiest for people to comprehend who are not familiar with this field of science. However, the material does not lend itself well to this effort. Definitions of terms are provided in the report to assist the reader's comprehension of quoted material. The intention in writing the report in this fashion is so the reader does not have to trust the writer for interpretations of the original source material. For this reason, original source material is used as much as possible. Because of the complex nature and lengthiness of this topic, a Condensed Report has been written for this Report that allows people to appreciate the substance of the correlations without having to read the entire Report. The Condensed Report does not extensively quote original source material and puts everything in the simplest terms possible. Click here to read the full report.

Adam and Eve Condensed Report
Prepared by Halbert Katzen with special thanks to Donna Whelan.
[Updated 3/29/09]

(So that readers do not have to trust the author’s interpretation, UBtheNEWS reports extensively quote the original source material that corroborates historical and scientific information in The Urantia Book. The Adam and Eve report deals with rather sophisticated aspects of genetics research, requiring sufficient explanation so that people untrained in this field can understand direct quotes from the research. Additionally, the numerous corroborations associated with this topic also add to the length of this report. The Adam and Eve Condensed Report offers an efficient way to get a reasonably complete understanding of the topic in layman’s terms. However, in order to do this, there is a de-emphasis on providing direct quotes and citations. Substantiation for this Condensed Report and links to the original source material are provided in the full report.)  

Published in 1955, The Urantia Book provides comprehensive and detailed information about the individuals whose lives were the basis for the story about Adam and Eve found in the Old Testament. These two accounts have some things in common—that they lived in Mesopotamia, that they had some problems which led to their relocation, and that they played a very important role in human history. However, for the most part, The Urantia Book’s account of who they were is considerably different than what is portrayed in the Old Testament.

According to the authors of The Urantia Book, though humanity started approximately one million years ago, Adam and Eve were genetically superior to everyone else and this genetic superiority is one of the primary reasons why a version of their relationship to humanity finds its way into the Old Testament. In addition to providing details about Adam and Eve, the authors also give extensive information about the development of their civilization and the migrations of their descendants.

Many people are reasonably sensitive to and concerned with the nature of this topic because it pertains to genetic variations related to brain function and the degree to which various populations and individuals are endowed with what the authors of The Urantia Book describe as a genetic upgrade. The full report provides direct quotes from The Urantia Book highlighting that everyone is equally a child of God and that we are all to act accordingly, regardless of an individual’s or a group’s genetic make up. Notwithstanding that the authors encourage consideration of the importance of genetic issues, they also note the appropriateness of non-violent methodologies, both individually and collectively, concerning our efforts to progress civilization. In short, it ought to be self-evident that all individuals and groups are entitled to the love, respect, and consideration that attend the dignity of being God’s children.

In November of 2006 the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America published online a study (the “Study”) done by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Chicago. Bruce Lahn, an internationally respected geneticist, led the research team involved with the Study.

The Study focuses on a particular part of a gene that effects the growth of the brain, the microcephalin allele. It reveals that 70% of humanity has an extra piece of genetic material attached to their microcephalin allele. Investigation of this peculiarity is the basis of the Study. The conclusions of the Study corroborate The Urantia Book’s story about Adam and Eve in seven ways and also provide a corroboration concerning the origins of humanity.

The Study used a representative sample of the current human population to notice and determine the percentage of the total human population that has this extra piece of genetic material on their microcephalin allele. Because geneticists have developed an appreciation for the way that genes get passed from generation to generation, they are able to extrapolate historical information from looking at the current state of humanity’s genetic variations. Even though a more sophisticated understanding of these techniques is important for appreciating the credibility of the results that this type of research provides, the results of the research yield conclusions that are easily appreciated and do not require a background in this field of science.

The Study parallels The Urantia Book’s story about Adam and Eve in the following ways:

1) The Study concerns additional genetic material attached to the microcephalin allele, which is crucial to the growth of the brain. Adam and Eve’s genetics are said to have “improved the brain power of the races, thereby greatly hastening the processes of natural evolution.” (It does not provide specific details regarding this improvement to “brain power.”)

2) The Study concludes that this addition to the microcephalin allele entered the human gene pool approximately 37,000 years ago. According to the authors of The Urantia Book, “Adam and Eve arrived on Urantia [Earth], from the year A.D. 1934, 37,848 years ago.”

3) According to the Study, the spread of this additional genetic material was very rapid. This is consistent with the story about Adam and Eve, who instructed their progeny to create a civilization amongst themselves, so as to create a reservoir of pure-line descendents, and then go out into the world and share their superior genetic qualities for the benefit of humanity.

4) The Study indicates that this addition to the microcephalin allele likely started with a single individual, as compared to being present in a group that then mixed with other groups of human beings. Interestingly, Adam and Eve are said to have had the exact same genetic endowment except for those genes having to do with sexual function.

5) The Study concludes that the addition to the microcephalin allele originated in Mesopotamia. The authors of The Urantia Book recount for us exactly where Adam and Eve lived in Mesopotamia and where their major population centers were in Mesopotamia.

6) The Study reveals that the addition to the microcephalin allele occurs in much lower percentages in sub-Saharan Africa relative to the rest of the humanity. According to The Urantia Book, “only a few” direct descendants of Adam and Eve ventured into sub-Saharan Africa.

7) The Study shows that the addition to the microcephalin allele occurs in very high percentages throughout the Native American population, although it is slightly higher in South American than North America. The Urantia Book says that 132 of Adam and Even’s descendants made it by boat across the South Pacific islands to South America. This group is said to be responsible for the Easter Island civilization and the leadership of the Incas. Adam and Eve’s genetics are said to have been responsible for the introduction of blue eyes as well as blonde, red, and brown hair. Curiously, mummies recently discovered in Peru were adorned with blue eyes. 

When researching this issue, alleles in proximity to the microcephalin allele, related to brain function, were studied for cross comparative analysis. The Study concluded that these alleles coalesce back to 990,000 years ago. According to The Urantia Book, “From the year A.D. 1934 back to the birth of the first two human beings is just 993,419 years.”

To go to the full report, click here

Adam and Eve Raw Data

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_and_Eve

From the Howard Hughes Medical Institute:

NOVEMBER 06, 2006

Could Interbreeding Between Humans and Neanderthals Have Led to an Enhanced Human Brain?

Might mating between an ancient human and a Neanderthal - perhaps occurring in only a single instance - have introduced a gene variant into the human population that enhanced human brain function? That question is at the heart of a new study by researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of Chicago.

The new research, which was published online during the week of November 6, 2006, in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggests that human evolution was not just a matter of spontaneous advantageous mutations arising within the human lineage. Human evolution may also have been influenced by interbreeding with other Homo species, which introduced gene variants, known as alleles, that are beneficial to human reproductive fitness, said the study's senior author Bruce T. Lahn, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher at the University of Chicago.

By no means do these findings constitute definitive proof that a Neanderthal was the source of the original copy of the D allele. However, our evidence shows that it is one of the best candidates.
Bruce T. Lahn

The scientists said they have developed the most robust genetic evidence to date that suggests humans and Neanderthals interbred when they existed together thousands of years ago. The interbreeding hypothesis contrasts with at least one prominent theory that posits that no interbreeding occurred when the two species encountered one another.

Lahn collaborated on the studies with Patrick D. Evans, Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov, Eric J. Vallender and Richard R. Hudson, all of the University of Chicago.

In their studies, Lahn and his colleagues performed a detailed statistical analysis of the DNA sequence structure of the gene microcephalin, which is known to play a role in regulating brain size in humans. Mutations in the human gene cause development of a much smaller brain, a condition called microcephaly.

Earlier studies by Lahn's group yielded evidence that the microcephalin gene has two distinct classes of alleles. One class, called the D alleles, is comprised of a group of alleles with rather similar DNA sequences. The other class is called the non-D alleles. Lahn and colleagues previously showed that all modern copies of the D alleles arose from a single progenitor copy about 37,000 years ago, which then increased in frequency rapidly and are now present in about 70 percent of the world's population. This rapid rise in frequency indicates that the D alleles underwent positive selection in the recent history of humans. This means that these alleles conferred a fitness advantage on those who possessed one of them such that these people had slightly higher reproductive success than people who didn't possess the alleles, said Lahn.

The estimate that all modern copies of the D alleles descended from a single progenitor copy about 37,000 years ago is based on the measurement of sequence difference between different copies of the D alleles. As a copy of a gene is passed from one generation to the next, mutations are introduced at a steady rate, such that a certain number of generations later, the descendent copies of the gene would on average vary from one another in DNA sequence by a certain amount. The greater the number of the generations, the more DNA sequence difference there would be between two descendent copies, said Lahn. The amount of sequence difference between different copies of a gene can therefore be used to estimate the amount of evolutionary time that has elapsed since the two copies descended from their common progenitor.

In the new studies reported in PNAS, the researchers performed detailed sequence comparisons between the D alleles and the non-D alleles of microcephalin. The scientists determined that these two classes of alleles have likely evolved in two separate lineages for about 1.1 million years with the non-D alleles having evolved in the Homo sapiens lineage and the D alleles having evolved in an archaic, and now extinct, Homo lineage. Then, about 37,000 years ago, a copy of the D allele crossed from the archaic Homo lineage into humans, possibly by interbreeding between members of the two populations. This copy subsequently spread in humans from a single copy when it first crossed into humans to an allele that is now present in an estimated 70 percent of the population worldwide today.

The estimate of 1.1 million years that separates the two lineages is based on the amount of sequence difference between the D and the non-D alleles. Although the identity of this archaic Homo lineage is yet to be determined, the researchers argue that a likely candidate is the Neanderthals. The 1.1 million year separation between humans and this archaic Homo species is roughly consistent with previous estimates of the amount of evolutionary time separating the Homo sapiens lineage and the Neanderthal lineage, said Lahn. Furthermore, the time of introgression of the D allele into humans about 37,000 years ago is when humans and Neanderthals coexisted in many parts of the world.

Lahn said the group's data suggest that the interbreeding was unlikely to be a thorough genetic mixing, but rather a rare - and perhaps even a single event that introduced the ancestral D allele previously present in this other Homo species into the human line.

By no means do these findings constitute definitive proof that a Neanderthal was the source of the original copy of the D allele, said Lahn. However, our evidence shows that it is one of the best candidates. The timeline - including the introgression of the allele into humans 37,000 years ago and its origin in a lineage that separated with the human line 1.1 million years ago agrees with the contact between, and the evolutionary history of, Neanderthals and humans.

And a third line of evidence, albeit weaker, is that the D alleles are much more prevalent in Eurasia and lower in sub-Saharan Africa, which is consistent with an origin in the former area. And we know that Neanderthals evolved outside of Africa, said Lahn.

Lahn also said that although the disruption of the microcephalin gene in humans leads to smaller brains, the role of the D alleles in brain evolution remains unknown. The D alleles may not even change brain size; they may only make the brain a bit more efficient if it indeed affects brain function, he said. For example, someone inheriting the D allele may have only a slightly more efficient brain on average. While that enhancement might confer only a subtle evolutionary advantage on that person, when that effect is propagated over a thousand generations of natural selection, the result will be to drive the D alleles to a very high prevalence.

Lahn and his colleagues believe that other genes might well show similar telltale signs of an origin in archaic Homo lineages such as Neanderthals. They are currently using their analytical tool to search for evidence of that origin for other genes in the human genome.

Such findings may have broader implications for understanding human evolution than just revealing the possibility of human-Neanderthal interbreeding, he said. In addition to being perhaps the most robust genetic evidence for introgression of genes from archaic Homo species into humans, I think this finding demonstrates that the evolution of our species has been profoundly impacted by gene flow from our relative species, said Lahn.

Finding evidence of mixing is not all that surprising. But our study demonstrates the possibility that interbreeding contributed advantageous variants into the human gene pool that subsequently spread. This implies that the evolution of human biology has been affected by the contribution of advantageous genetic variants from archaic relatives that we have replaced or even killed off, he said.

Until now, said Lahn, the scientific debate over genetic exchange between humans and other Homo species has led to two prominent competing theories. One holds that anatomically modern humans replaced archaic species, with no interbreeding. And the other states that extensive interbreeding did take place and that modern humans evolved from that interbreeding in many regions of the world.

Genetic and fossil evidence for the latter multiregional theory has been inconclusive, said Lahn, so that theory has been largely discredited. However, he said, the newer evidence of gene exchange as well as other genetic evidence that might follow could give rise to a more moderate version holding that some genetic exchange did take place. Furthermore, it will become increasingly appreciated that such genetic exchange might have made our species much more fit.

Back to Top