«Scientists have predicted the death of all men in the world,” “Men may be hermaphroditic,” “After 5 million years on Earth will not be men” – such headlines was full selection of scientific news in the “Yandeks.Novosti” in the Sunday, January 10 .
The Russian media, in particular, reported that the Australian researcher Jenny Graves found: the number of men in the world has been steadily declining, and the reason for this – “weak structure” of their sex chromosomes, Y-chromosome, which is destroyed in the process of evolution (once it contained more than a thousand genes, but to date their number was reduced to hundreds ). That is why Professor Graves sure:
over 5 million years men in the world will not remain.
However, quoting the message the Russian media did not stop adding to the sensational news one more detail: it appears that Oxford professor Bryan Sykes believes that men will die even earlier – after only 125 thousand. years. Rounding out the sad news on an optimistic note: scientists have predicted that
function “decaying” on the part of the Y-chromosome can take on some third chromosome, leading to the creation of a new species person, and, most likely, it will be a hermaphrodite.
The Department of Science “Gazety.Ru” decided to find out where those sensational news. It turned out that for the first time Post on the theory Jenny Graves appeared in early April of 2013. The researcher actually reported that Y-chromosome during evolution is slowly broken down and may lose its function over 5 million years.
It is not that these statements are completely unfounded. The Y-chromosome is really destroyed if
Initially, it contained more than 1.4 thousand. Genes, now there 72 genes encoding proteins, as well as 137 “junk” genes
(they are not able to encode proteins) and 387 pseudogenes (non-functional analogues of genes that have lost their ability to encode a protein).
Such substantial changes have taken place over a sufficiently long period of time. Previously it was believed that the appearance of the X chromosome and the Y-chromosome occurred about 300 million years ago, but the sequencing of the platypus genome (by the way, this animal has ten sex chromosomes, instead of two, as a man) has shown that the separation of the two sex chromosomes happened range from 160 million to 210 million years ago. The results of the published in the journal Nature in 2008.
If you apply the model of linear extrapolation and suggest that in the future the Y-chromosome is losing genes at the same rate, we find that it can actually lose their function after about 10 million years. However, more detailed studies of the Y-chromosome (its comparison with the male sex chromosome of chimpanzees) showed that
in the last 6-7 million years of the Y-chromosome has not lost a single gene, and over the past 25 million years – only one gene.
This means that for the assessment of further evolutionary path Y-chromosome model linear extrapolation used, apparently, can not, and over the next 10 million years, men are in no danger.
However, Russian media recalled not only the application Jenny Graves, made in 2013, but still and referred to the authoritative opinion of the Oxford professor Bryan Sykes. The scientist did previously served as Professor of Human Genetics at Oxford, at the moment it works in Wolfson College (Oxford), and is engaged in research of ancient DNA. In particular, he studied the genetic material of Ötzi – the oldest discovered human mummy in Europe.
However, Professor Sykes is known not only that, but his interest in cryptozoology – the science, which is regarded by zoologists as a pseudoscience. Cryptozoology is looking for extinct animals (dinosaurs), as well as living beings, as referred to in legends and folklore (Bigfoot, dragons, Krakow).
In 2014, Sykes published an article in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, in which the introduced DNA sequencing wool 30 animals. The hairs were taken from the museum and private collections, only
they belonged, according to the discoverer of people yeti – Yeti.
Professor Sykes conducted genetic analysis of hair and said that most of the hairs really belongs to the animals – cows, horses and bears. But the owner of the two samples, according to Sykes, was a yeti – underneath view of a scientist meant a huge polar bear, composed in a very close relationship with the animals living on Earth about 40 thousand. Years ago. Sykes even
announced its intention to organize an expedition to the Himalayas to find a living specimen is almost fossil creatures. “This is the next logical step. We need a live Yeti », – reported a scientist.
an expedition was not to be. A few months after the publication of the controversial journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B published Article rebuttal . Researchers Ross Barnett and Tseyridven Edwards held a re-analysis of the DNA fur yeti and came to the conclusion that the mysterious ancient bear, miracle dozhivshim to the present day, is actually quite a modern Asiatic black bear.
It is possible that in the assessment the length of time of existence in the world of men, Professor Sykes also made a mistake. According to the scientific community Sykes after the story of a failed Yeti also wary – as the reports popular science portal Doubtful News («Doubtful News”), bear-yeti strongly damped reputation of the professor.
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