Just A Guy Thing

As men’s genes shrink and slowly fade, men could be facing extinction in the future, so claims a British scientist. Researcher Jennifer Graves says that male Y chromosomes are dying and could go away altogether in the next 5 million years.

The Y chromosome has a gene called SRY that triggers the development of testis and produces male hormones that determine maleness. A mere 300 million years ago, the male chromosome had 1,400 genes on it. Now that number is down to 45. No one quite knows what will happen once the Y chromosome dies out.

Graves, from the Australian National University in Canberra, speculates that humans may become more like mole voles or country rats, which still reproduce despite not having the genes that constitute the Y chromosome.

photo credit: lesliemiperry