Riya Baibhawi

Y Chromosome Is Vanishing: Will Males Get Extinct Or Will Their Genes Evolve?

XY Chromosomes

It is the <span>Y chromosome</span> that triggers the maleness in a fetus. But what if it becomes extinct? A recent report by The Conversation has shown that the Y Chromosome is degenerating and may go extinct. It has witnessed significant changes over the course of human <span>evolution</span> and has lost most of its 1600 odd genes, a rate of nearly 10 per million years. If this continues, it may cease to exist. 

"The X chromosome contains approximately 900 genes with multiple functions, whereas the Y has approximately 55 genes with only 27 of them being male-specific. Many are present in multiple copies, most of them inactive, lying in giant loops of DNA. Most of the Y is made of repetitive junk DNA," the report explained. 

Notably, the early 'proto-Y' chromosome was originally the same size as the X chromosome and contained all the same genes. "However, because males only have one copy of the chromosome, it does not have the opportunity to go through genetic recombination, which is the "shuffling of genes that occurs in each generation which helps to eliminate damaging gene mutations. Without recombination, Y chromosomal genes degenerate over time. "The Y chromosome has degenerated rapidly, leaving females with two perfectly normal X chromosomes, but males with an X and a shrivelled Y." 

The most important part of Y chromosome is the master sex gene called SRY which triggers the fetus's growth into a male. Speaking to Newsweek, Jenny Graves, a sex chromosomes geneticist at La Trobe University in Melbourne, explained that once upon a time, both X and Y chromosomes were just an ordinary pair of chromosomes. Then one partner acquired SRY gene that determines maleness." She further, elaborated that if the Y chromosome goes extinct, then men could go extinct, and eventually the entire humankind. However, they might also evolve into a new gene that defines new sex chromosomes. 

<h2>Can we live without Y chromosomes?</h2>

While it may be scary to think of a world sans the Y chromosomes, the good news is two branches of rodents—mole voles and spiny rats—have already lost them and have lived to tell the tale. While the exact mechanism remains elusive in mole voles, researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan have made strides in understanding spiny rats—a group of three endangered species native to different Japanese islands.

They discovered that most of the Y chromosome genes in spiny rats had been relocated to other chromosomes. However, neither the critical SRY gene, which typically determines male sex, nor any replacement gene could be identified, leaving the process behind their sex determination an intriguing puzzle.

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It is the Y chromosome that triggers the maleness in a fetus. But what if it becomes extinct? A recent report by The Conversation has shown that the Y Chromosome is degenerating and may go extinct. It has witnessed significant changes over the course of human evolution and has lost most of its 1600 odd genes, a rate of nearly 10 per million years. If this continues, it may cease to exist. "The X chromosome contains approximately 900 genes with multiple functions, whereas the Y has approximately 55 genes with only 27 of them being male-specific. Many are present in multiple copies, most of them inactive, lying in giant loops of DNA. Most of the Y is made of repetitive junk DNA," the report explained. Notably, the early 'proto-Y' chromosome was originally the same size as the X chromosome and contained all the same genes. "However, because males only have one copy of the chromosome, it does not have the opportunity to go through genetic recombination, which is the "shuffling of genes that occurs in each generation which helps to eliminate damaging gene mutations. Without recombination, Y chromosomal genes degenerate over time. "The Y chromosome has degenerated rapidly, leaving females with two perfectly normal X chromosomes, but males with an X and a shrivelled Y." What are the implications?The most important part of Y chromosome is the master sex gene called SRY which triggers the fetus's growth into a male. Speaking to Newsweek, Jenny Graves, a sex chromosomes geneticist at La Trobe University in Melbourne, explained that once upon a time, both X and Y chromosomes were just an ordinary pair of chromosomes. Then one partner acquired SRY gene that determines maleness." She further, elaborated that if the Y chromosome goes extinct, then men could go extinct, and eventually the entire humankind. However, they might also evolve into a new gene that defines new sex chromosomes. Can we live without Y chromosomes?While it may be scary to think of a world sans the Y chromosomes, the good news is two branches of rodents—mole voles and spiny rats—have already lost them and have lived to tell the tale. While the exact mechanism remains elusive in mole voles, researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan have made strides in understanding spiny rats—a group of three endangered species native to different Japanese islands.They discovered that most of the Y chromosome genes in spiny rats had been relocated to other chromosomes. However, neither the critical SRY gene, which typically determines male sex, nor any replacement gene could be identified, leaving the process behind their sex determination an intriguing puzzle.