This month marks the 25th anniversary of the discovery of Mitochondrial Eve, a common ancestor of all humanity who helped rewrite the story of human evolution. In honor of this anniversary, we talked to the scientists who started it all.

This month marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the discovery of Mitochondrial Eve, the common ancestor of every human alive today. Here's everything you need to know about why the mother of humanity is so important.

All humans can trace their family tree back to a surprisingly small group of common ancestors. Every person on Earth's most recent common ancestor might have died less than 2000 years ago.