Is The Y Chromosome Shrinking?

Question

Nature has shown that X Chromosomes were the first to appear in the Natural selection of species. Y Chromosomes came about when one of the X chromosomes deffected within the evoloutionary process. The Y chromosomes are not stable; and due to their unstable nature they are deminishing and shrinking. In about 300,000 years from now the only chromosomes to survive are the X chromosomes. Ultimately ending the human existence gradually after wards; that is if we do survive to see that day. Only Time will tell.

Answer 1

Y chromosomes have their own way of reconstructing themseves called gene conversion. There are some species of animals where both males and females have XX. For moee info, click this link below. So guys aren't going to be wiped off the face of the earth, only their genes will change.

Answer 2

Some geneticists think the Y chromosome is now little more than a genetic wasteland that will eventually just disappear. If that were to happen, it would certainly spell the end of sexual reproduction.

But David Page of MIT's Whitehead Institute vigorously disagrees. "At the same time that it is continuing to lose genes, it's found some new ways of replenishing itself," Page says.

Last year, Page and his colleagues reported a finding that brightened the outlook for the future of men: The Y chromosome has been secretly creating backup copies of its most important genes. These are stored in the DNA as mirror images, or palindromes -- which read the same way forwards and backwards. ("Madam, I'm Adam" is a famous example.)

In Y chromosome palindromes, the first half contains the gene and the second half contains the same information, just in reverse.

That means that many of the genes on the Y chromosome do occur as pairs. Page says members of these pairs appear to be swapping out or recombining with each other -- allowing the genes to repair themselves when they get damaged.

Page says this helps explain why these genes have been able to persist despite millions of years of assault from random mutations. And, he says, it means the Y chromosome won't simply keep shrinking away until it disappears altogether.

Answer 3

If one Y chromosome ceases to be sufficient for the proper development of male human beings we'll probably begin seeing more double Y males who presently occur about 1 in 1000 times a male child is born. Besides that the human genome project has shown that the Y chromosome is self repairing unlike all the other chromosomes humans have and that if evolution is correct, then if the time frame for the total dissolution of the Y chromosome will take more than 1 million years then by then human beings will not be the familiar homo sapiens we all are today anyway and we'll have either died out already or been replaced by the infamous homo superior. In short worrying about it is as futile and stupid as worrying about 2012.

Answer 4

Of cause it won't vanish. The Y Chromosome doesn't contain too many usefull genes. And everthing that is not usefull vanishes somewhere in time, because elimination doesn't have a negative impact on survival resp. doesn't mean a selectional disadvantage. Otherwise the Y Chromosone contains the TMF receptor, which is in no way unimportant (at least not if you want to become male, or want to mate and reproduce if you will be femaile).

Answer 5

Yes, Y chromosomes degenerate in evolutionary time. Ours are down to 5 genes.

Answer 6

I have heard that. All the women in the room smirked when someone made that announcement.

There's a lot more pressing problems than something that may or may not happen thousands of years from now. I'm not going to worry about it.

Answer 7

I'm sure that by then we will be able to artifically generate Y chromosomes, and you will finally get one of your own.