A recent study shows that Men are slowly losing their Y chromosome, but a new sex gene discovery in spiny rats has brought hope for humanity. Does this mean the end of males, or will evolution find a surprising solution? The sex of human babies, and most mammals, is determined by a male-determining gene found on the Y chromosome. But there’s a twist in this tale of evolution: the human Y chromosome is slowly deteriorating and may vanish completely in a few million years.
Without this critical gene, the future of human reproduction—and our survival—hangs in the balance, unless we evolve a new way to determine sex. But don’t panic just yet. There’s hope, and it comes from an unlikely source: rodents.
Two branches of these small mammals have already lost their Y chromosome—and yet they continue to thrive. A recent study titled, ‘Turnover of mammal sex chromosomes in the Sry-deficient Amami spiny rat is due to male-specific upregulation of Sox9,’ published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS); offers a glimpse of how life might adapt to such a drastic change. The spiny rat, a curious creature, has evolved a brand-new male-determining gene, proving that life can find a way even when a key genetic component is lost.
How does the Y Chromosome determine Sex in Humans? In humans and other mammals, females typically have two X chromosomes, while males have one X and a much smaller Y chromosome. Despite its size and limited number of genes—around 55.