{"id":894,"date":"2004-06-08T16:35:02","date_gmt":"2004-06-08T20:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=894"},"modified":"2009-01-16T17:05:12","modified_gmt":"2009-01-16T21:05:12","slug":"unstable-y","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2004\/06\/unstable-y\/","title":{"rendered":"Unstable Y"},"content":{"rendered":"

And now, from the “science imitates Andrea Dworkin” department, an interview today in the New York Times science section discusses<\/a>, inter alia, the genetic problems caused by the relatively unstable Y chromosome:<\/p>\n

Unlike all other chromosomes, the Y doesn’t get a chance to mix with any other chromosomes. . . . It gets passed on from one male to another, and it cannot repair mutations through genetic recombination. Moreover, the Y chromosome is subject to a higher mutation rate than other chromosomes because it is perennially confined to the male germ line. Male germ line cells and their DNA divide very, very fast to keep up with sperm production. Most mutations occur when DNA divides. So the Y is intrinsically unstable. By my estimate, in about 5,000 generations – 125,000 years – male fertility will be roughly 1 percent of what it is now. Mutations in Y chromosomes are already known to reduce male fertility. So I see a slow decline in men’s fertility until, eventually, men can no longer breed naturally. . . .<\/p>\n

I feel sure that humans will one day be able to reproduce by the fusion of two eggs. The children will always be girls, and they will have the same genetic mix as any other girl. This is very feasible, and I think will happen in my lifetime.<\/i><\/p>\n

Wow. If this is right, the human race may only have another 125,000 years of life as a two-gender species. After that, it’s going to be all women! (I’ll forgo inserting the customary PMS joke here). Does this mean that women will receive the priesthood? (Will they be as bad at doing their home teaching as men are?). Stay tuned over the next 125,000 years to find out . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And now, from the “science imitates Andrea Dworkin” department, an interview today in the New York Times science section discusses, inter alia, the genetic problems caused by the relatively unstable Y chromosome: Unlike all other chromosomes, the Y doesn’t get a chance to mix with any other chromosomes. . . . It gets passed on from one male to another, and it cannot repair mutations through genetic recombination. Moreover, the Y chromosome is subject to a higher mutation rate than other chromosomes because it is perennially confined to the male germ line. Male germ line cells and their DNA divide very, very fast to keep up with sperm production. Most mutations occur when DNA divides. So the Y is intrinsically unstable. By my estimate, in about 5,000 generations – 125,000 years – male fertility will be roughly 1 percent of what it is now. Mutations in Y chromosomes are already known to reduce male fertility. So I see a slow decline in men’s fertility until, eventually, men can no longer breed naturally. . . . I feel sure that humans will one day be able to reproduce by the fusion of two eggs. The children will always be girls, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corn"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5530,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894\/revisions\/5530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}