Discovery Channel will telecast a special The Real Eve this Sunday, a show that reveals humankind's shared genetic heritage links with every other living person on earth.

Using the aid of scientists and cutting-edge research, the show proves that despite physical, psychological and cultural differences, all modern humans, through a unique part of their DNA, trace back to a single woman in Africa from whom we all descend. Unlike the DNA that dictates height or eye colour, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) provides the chemical energy in nearly all human cells; humans cannot survive without it. The mtDNA of "mitrochondrial Eve" has come down through evolution, from mother to daughter (men are carriers but don't pass it on). Although she was not the only woman living at the time, nor necessarily the most fertile, this Eve's mtDNA type was the only strain to survive.

The programme goes to present-day Chicago, where simple mtDNA swab tests of a diverse group of people yield surprising results. A woman of Greek descent and a Native American find that they share a common female ancestor from 30,000 years ago. Scientists on the show will explain the parallel origins of variation in skin tone. They explain how skin colour evolved as a means of preventing birth defects because pigmentation, by shielding against ultraviolet radiation, alters blood levels of folate - a biomolecule critical to foetal development. Depending on their proximity to the sun, fertile women needed more or less pigmentation in order to bear healthy babies - and their skin evolved accordingly.

Filmmakers achieved a cinematic feel for this television special by using the latest computer generated imagery, morphing, animation and scenario reconstruction. The film was also shot on location in Africa, Australia and Malaysia, where homo sapiens' development actually took place.

The Real Eve will telecast on Sunday, 21 April between 8 and 10 pm.

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