Female Supremacy Articles - Page 11

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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.

Q. Should we be worried now?

A. There are more immediate problems in life, although 125,000 years is just a fraction of a second in the overall evolution in our species. And there will be things that can be done; we could take the essential genes from the Y chromosome and put them on regular chromosomes, out of harm's way.

A more radical possibility involves eliminating males from the reproductive process. Japanese researchers have just created a mouse from fusion of two eggs. On the face of it, the mouse developed normally. There was no male involvement at all. The triumph of this experiment is that it overcame an inbuilt system called genetic imprinting, which hitherto had prevented mammals from reproducing by parthenogenesis.