Quarks to Quasars

Reports of Looming Male Extinction Exaggerated Contrary to previous belief, men may not be on the way out after all. New research reveals that the Y chromosome is not rapidly degrading and is unlikely to disappear. The idea that the male sex chromosome and its owners would someday vanish is based on the process by which our cells form sperm and eggs. These cells each contain pairs of chromosomes, or packets of DNA. When these cells divide, their chromosome pairs swap genetic information in a process called recombination (like shuffling two decks of cards before dividing them back into two decks). Recombination allows the cells to repair genetic mistakes and mix and match genes. But unlike the other 45 chromosomes that carry human genetic information, the male sex chromosome, the Y, does not come with a matched partner to recombine with. Instead, it gets paired with an X chromosome. That means that when it comes time for cells to divide, the Y has no one to recombine with. “The Y never gets a chance, because there are never two Ys in a cell,” said study researcher Jennifer Hughes, Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass. “What we have shown time and time again is that if you don’t recombine, you degenerate.” Read more

Reports of Looming Male Extinction Exaggerated

Contrary to previous belief, men may not be on the way out after all. New research reveals that the Y chromosome is not rapidly degrading and is unlikely to disappear.

The idea that the male sex chromosome and its owners would someday vanish is based on the process by which our cells form sperm and eggs. These cells each contain pairs of chromosomes, or packets of DNA. When these cells divide, their chromosome pairs swap genetic information in a process called recombination (like shuffling two decks of cards before dividing them back into two decks).

Recombination allows the cells to repair genetic mistakes and mix and match genes. But unlike the other 45 chromosomes that carry human genetic information, the male sex chromosome, the Y, does not come with a matched partner to recombine with. Instead, it gets paired with an X chromosome. That means that when it comes time for cells to divide, the Y has no one to recombine with.

“The Y never gets a chance, because there are never two Ys in a cell,” said study researcher Jennifer Hughes, Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass. “What we have shown time and time again is that if you don’t recombine, you degenerate.”

Read more

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Posted on Thursday, 23 February
Tagged as: Science   Biology  
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    gotten more complex? And it...species, at least I believe so since
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