Genetic Eve

Havva lives in Ice Age Europe, where her people hunt majestic wild animals and harvest herbs, roots, and berries from the land. She has always wanted to be a hunter, but her grandmother says he clan needs her to be a healer instead. Havva isn't sure healing is a useful skill, until her whole family falls ill with a dangerous sickness. With her grandmother sick, Havva knows she is the only one, who can find the magic herb that will allow her family to recover. She must cross the snow-covered forests and plains, of Ice Age Europe, alone to reach the Great River, where stores of the healing herb may be, found. Along the way, she'll make friends with a wild wolf and a mysterious old man who knows the ancient secrets of this frozen landscape. This is a Genetic Eve story, a story of what life might have, been like for the first girl to be born with a new mitochondrial DNA mutation. Havva's special mutation, the H haplotype, allows her to resist sickness better than her ancestors. In time, her mutation will be, passed down to become the most common haplotype in Europe today!

The Story of An Ancestor Lulit's family has always lived in the fertile grasslands of Africa, where they gather nutritious plants and hunt majestic game animals for food. Lulit has a special connection to the land: her lion, Anbesa, who she has raised since he was a cub. As a megadrought causes the plants and animals they eat to disappear, disaster strikes Lulit's family. With the land itself drying up, Lulit wonders if there's anything she can do to help her people. When her family decides that they must eat her lion to stay alive, Lulit knows that she must find another way. She sets out to find a new source of food - and a passage through the Great Desert, to the unknown lands in the north. This is a Genetic Eve story - a story of what life might have been like for the first girl to be born with a new mitochondrial DNA mutation. Lulit's special mutation - the L3 haplogroup - allows her to stay cool in the hot sun, stay healthy while eating less, and move faster than the rest of her tribe. All of these mutations will help her to cross the Great Desert in a time of famine and save her people. Follow Genetic Eve's book releases to learn about more other mitochondrial mutators, like Havva and Jera, whose mutations help them survive the challenges the Ice Age brings their peoples in the lands north of the Great Salt Lake.

Before History… Jera lives high in the Zagros Mountains with her family. Her family is a little stranger than most: it includes a snow leopard named Fahd, who was born alongside Jera one snowy winter night. This year, Jera is finally old enough to join the hunters of her clan as they leave to travel to the distant grasslands in search of food. She can't wait to wander far and wide - and bring down prey of her own, like she's seen Fahd do so many times. But when Jera's hunt doesn't go according to plan, she has a mysterious encounter that will change her life - and her clan - forever. This is a Genetic Eve story - a story of what life might have been like for the first girl to be born with a new mitochondrial DNA mutation. Jera's special mutation - the J haplotype - allows her to breathe thin mountain air and stay warm in the cold better than her ancestors. These mutations help her to travel far and wide, and learn the secrets of her mountain home. In time, her descendants will share Jera's adventurous spirit. They will travel around the world, leaving descendants who carry the J mutation wherever they go. Follow Genetic Eve's book releases to learn more about other mitochondrial mutators, like Havva and Lulit, who help their families to survive the changes the Ice Age brings to the world around them. Learn more at GeneticEve.com