The world will no longer have men?

The Y chromosome is slowly degenerating, 4.6 years and millions more years may completely disappear. So what will be the fate of men?

The above information is included in a scientific article by two geneticists from Kent University (UK) - geneticist Darren Griffin and Peter Ellis, a molecular and reproductive biology professor, published in the magazine. The Conversation.

Today, the Y chromosome has deteriorated much compared to the X chromosome (photo: THE CONVERSATION).

166 million years ago, when the first mammals appeared, the "proto-Y" - precursor to the Y chromosome - was the same size as the X chromosome and contained similar genes. However, the Y chromosome has a fundamental flaw. Every other chromosome has an extra copy in each cell, while the Y chromosome has only one copy, passed from father to child.

This means that the genes on the Y chromosome are not genetically recombined, ie the reorganization process eliminates harmful gene mutations over each generation. As a result, the Y chromosome deteriorates over time.

Today, if you look at the pairs of mammalian sex chromosomes, for example, human chromosome 23, you will see that women have the same pair of XXs, while men own a pair of XYs. "Y" is much smaller than X. That's the result of degeneration after hundreds of millions of years.

The authors emphasize: according to this decline, about 4.6 million years later, the Y chromosome can completely disappear.

The Japanese mole rat has now completely lost its Y chromosome.

In a 2016 article, author Jenny Graves, La Trobe University (Australia), analyzed the phenomenon of prickly and mole rats in Japan completely losing the Y chromosome. This leads to problems. on reproduction but the amazing ability of natural balance can promote new species formation with a new reproduction.

So what will be the fate of men and other male animals?

The good news is that most mammals need both men and women to reproduce. In species that lose the Y chromosome, some genetic changes will help that species produce a new sex - a type of male that doesn't need the Y chromosome . It is understandable that the male individual does not completely disappear, but is replaced only by another male form with a new gender characteristic.