Mitochondrial Eve, Y-chromosomal Adam, and Charlemagne

More than 1064 people made each of us.  What's more --

The mathematical study of genealogy indicates that everyone in the world is descended from Nefertiti and Confucius, and everyone of European ancestry is descended from Muhammad and Charlemagne... (Steve Olson, "The Royal We")

In his article writer Olson refers geneologist and mathematician Mark Humphrys' work, which can be found on his website, titled "Royal Descents of famous people." The title of his site is a bit misleading--there's a lot more than the geneologies of famous people -- such as

This is not about DNA (Genealogy is not Genetics)

These findings do not necessarily have any implications for our DNA. To descend from someone does not mean you necessarily inherit any DNA from them. These findings do not conflict with the idea that most or all of your DNA is inherited from your local area. Even if you do descend from the Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs, that does not mean this can be detected in your DNA. In fact, there may be no evidence at all of these findings in humanity's DNA. And yet the findings can still be true.  [for more info, check his page on common ancestors]

In genetics there's Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam.  Of Eve Wikipedia says:

In the field of human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve, who is estimated to have lived approximately 140,000–200,000 years ago, refers to the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all currently living anatomically modern humans. In other words, she was the most recent woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother’s side, and through the mothers of those mothers, and so on, back until all lines converge on one person.

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Electron microscopy reveals mitochondrial DNA in discrete foci,  Wikipedia

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Trying to find out what exactly is meant by Mitochondrial Eve without getting too caught up in terms like eukaryotic cells and alphabet soup such as L(x), M, N, and CZ, I found this lovely definition of mitochondria at Biology4Kids:

Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of the cell. They are organelles that act like a digestive system that takes in nutrients, breaks them down, and creates energy for the cell. The process of creating cell energy is known as cellular respiration. Most of the chemical reactions involved in cellular respiration happen in the mitochondria. A mitochondrion is shaped perfectly to maximize its efforts.

Contrast the definition of Eve above with that of Adam:

In human genetics, Y-chromosomal Adam (Y-MRCA) is a hypothetical name given to the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living people are descended patrilineally (tracing back only along the paternal or male lines of their family tree). However, the title is not permanently fixed on a single individual...

You can take part in National Geographic's Genographic Project, Geno 2.0, with the purchase of a kit ($199.95).  So far there are 609,030 participants in over 140 countries.  The purpose of the project is "to shine a powerful new light on our collective past."
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Johann Heinrich Füssli, "The Creation of Eve," Commons.wikimedia.org

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-- Marge