PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsNewsMale chromosome not dying out, say researchers

BioNews

Male chromosome not dying out, say researchers

Published 13 January 2014 posted in News and appears in BioNews 737

Author

Matthew Thomas

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.

The human Y chromosome may have some use, after all. Experts previously thought that the chromosome containing 'male' genes was shrinking to the point of extinction...

The human Y chromosome may have some use, after all. Experts
previously thought that the chromosome containing 'male' genes was shrinking to
the point of extinction.

A study published in PLOS Genetics suggests that natural
selection may be maintaining genes on the Y chromosome. This chromosome 'tells'
an embryo to develop biologically male characteristics. Many of the tiny Y's 27
genes are linked to male fertility.

Most chromosomes come in pairs and swap DNA when cells
divide into sex cells — a process known as recombination. The Y chromosome,
however, has no genetic partner. Researchers think this can lead to damage from
harmful mutations building up over time. This may cause DNA to be discarded and
the chromosome to dwindle.

'The Y chromosome has lost 90 percent of the genes it once
shared with the female X chromosome, and some scientists have speculated that
the Y chromosome will disappear in less than five million years', said Dr
Melissa Wilson Sayres
, an evolutionary biologist from the University of
California, Berkeley
and lead author of the study.

'Our study demonstrates that the genes that have been
maintained, and those that migrated from the X to the Y, are important, and the
human Y is going to stick around for a long while'.

The researchers analysed the complete genomes of 16 men —
eight from Africa, eight from Europe. They found that Y chromosome variation
between the men was very small, suggesting a 'purifying' form of natural selection
has whittled it down to the bare necessities.

The continued existence of the 27 Y chromosomes genes may
mean they play a vital role. Seventeen of these genes have remained intact
after 200 million years of evolution. The other ten, called ampliconic genes,
were more recently acquired.

According to Dr Wilson Sayres: 'These ampliconic regions
that we haven’t really understood until now are evidently very important and
probably should be investigated and studied for fertility'.

A common alternative explanation for the lack of Y
chromosome variation in humans is that relatively few men fathered a
disproportionate number of children. This is popularly known as the 'Genghis
Khan effect', after the Mongol leader whose Y chromosome can still be found in
0.5 percent of males worldwide.

The study demonstrated that if this explanation were true,
fewer than one in four males could have passed on their Y chromosomes to future
generations.

Related Articles

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
4 March 2016 • 2 minutes read

Y chromosomes of gorillas could answer questions about male infertility

by Dr Katie Howe

A new DNA-sequencing method has been developed, which has been used to determine the sequence of the gorilla Y chromosome...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
20 February 2015 • 2 minutes read

Why sex makes sense, evolutionarily

by Sophie McLachlan

Humanity's predisposition to disease has been reduced thanks to hundreds of generations of sexual reproduction, research shows...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
12 December 2014 • 2 minutes read

Smoking can 'erase' the Y chromosome

by Arit Udoh

Smoking can accelerate the loss of the Y chromosome in blood cells, a study claims...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
26 September 2014 • 2 minutes read

Polygamy left its mark on human genome

by Dr Vikki Burchell

The rise of the single mother may seem a rather modern phenomenon. But even before the first humans walked out of Africa 70,000 years ago, mothers have consistently outnumbered fathers, DNA analysis suggests...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
25 November 2013 • 2 minutes read

Last man standing: just two Y-chromosome genes needed for reproduction

by Dr Naqash Raja

Male mice are able to reproduce healthy offspring with only two Y-chromosome genes, researchers at the University of Hawaii have discovered...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
26 July 2013 • 3 minutes read

'Female chromosome' might make a man a man

by Clara Salice

The 'female' X chromosome has been shown to contain several genes that may be involved in sperm production...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
24 February 2012 • 2 minutes read

Men might escape extinction according to monkey Y chromosome study

by Ruth Saunders

Men may not be on the brink of extinction after all, according to a study on the evolution of the human Y chromosome. Previous research has suggested that the Y sex chromosome, carried only by men, is decaying genetically at such a rate that men would become extinct in five million years' time...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
15 January 2010 • 2 minutes read

Y chromosome evolving rapidly

by Rose Palmer

Scientists have found that the Y chromosome is evolving more quickly than any other part of the human genetic code. In the first comparison of human and chimpanzee Y chromosomes, a team from the Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts, US, found that the two differ dramatically in structure and gene content. The finding was published in the journal Nature....

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« New York State launches genomic medicine project with $105 million

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
13 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Drop in diversity of blood stem cells leads to old-age health issues

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

UK report reveals public attitudes to fertility, genomics and embryo research

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Shortage of sperm donors despite men willing to donate

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

North East London CCG proposes offering three funded IVF cycles

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Fibrosis drugs reverse ovarian ageing in mice

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Gene implicated in motor neurone diseases discovered

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856