Decius wrote:
] ] Of all our chromosomes, it is the only one that is
] ] permanently locked into the germ cells of men, where the
] ] frenzy of cell division and error-prone DNA copying
] ] required to keep up the daily output of 150 million sperm
] ] creates the ideal conditions for mutation. And it shows.
] ] Seven percent of men are infertile or sub-fertile and in
] ] roughly a quarter of cases the problem is traceable to
] ] new Y chromosome mutations, not present in their fathers,
] ] which disable one or other of the few remaining genes.
] ] This is an astonishingly high figure, and there is no
] ] reason to think things will improve in the future --
] ] quite the reverse in fact. One by one, Y chromosomes will
] ] disappear, eliminated by the relentless onslaught of
] ] irreparable mutation, until only one is left. When that
] ] chromosome finally succumbs, men will become extinct.
] ]
] ] But when? I estimate that, at the current rate, male
] ] fertility caused by Y chromosome decay will decline to 1
] ] percent of its present level within 5,000 generations --
] ] roughly 125,000 years. Not exactly the day after
] ] tomorrow -- but equally, not an unimaginably long time
] ] ahead.
]
] This is a very entertaining article, particularly if you are
] into genetic engineering. How well accepted is this theory?

yeah, there's a chapter in Genome by Matt Ridley that discusses competition between the sex chromosomes, and how it's been whittling away the Y over generations. i don't believe he makes the same conclusion, but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

RE: On the death of Y chromosomes