Prospero
Thinker
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2003
- Messages
- 176
Evolution's been castrated
Everyone keeps saying "Evolution will save the day!" and that these faulty Ys will be bred out, but take into consideration society's view on te handicapped.
According to evolution, if you're born outside of a somewhat narrow range of "genetic normalcy", you're basically sabertooth food. Well, that's obviously not much of a problem any more. Now society's nice and cushy and allows individuals that would have been culled off by their environment to live out their entire lives. Some of them are actually capable of seeming relatively normal and breeding, which they do, which according to evolution, should not be possible at all. So now the population is maintaining what Nature would normally kill off and the result is weaker genes surviving that should have been excluded from the gene pool. I'm not passing judgement on the validity of the practice, but from an evolutionary standpoint, it's like letting debris accumulate in the gene pool without cleaning it out. It certainly can't make things better... Okay, so maybe I am passing judgement. Too bad there's no easy alternative.
Everyone keeps saying "Evolution will save the day!" and that these faulty Ys will be bred out, but take into consideration society's view on te handicapped.
According to evolution, if you're born outside of a somewhat narrow range of "genetic normalcy", you're basically sabertooth food. Well, that's obviously not much of a problem any more. Now society's nice and cushy and allows individuals that would have been culled off by their environment to live out their entire lives. Some of them are actually capable of seeming relatively normal and breeding, which they do, which according to evolution, should not be possible at all. So now the population is maintaining what Nature would normally kill off and the result is weaker genes surviving that should have been excluded from the gene pool. I'm not passing judgement on the validity of the practice, but from an evolutionary standpoint, it's like letting debris accumulate in the gene pool without cleaning it out. It certainly can't make things better... Okay, so maybe I am passing judgement. Too bad there's no easy alternative.
Nah. I figure, even if he IS making some kind of sense, we'll have wiped ourselves out by then.Re: Evolution's been castrated
It's a beautiful day here for the Special Olympics awards ceremony. These males have competed their little hearts out. But you know, this isn't about the awards or breaking the male world record for the 100m dash of 4min 22sec. It's about the triumph of the human spirit. Just look at the smiles on the faces of those males. Everyone here today is a winner!
Here's a news report from the Special Olympics, 93120 AD.Prospero said:
It's a beautiful day here for the Special Olympics awards ceremony. These males have competed their little hearts out. But you know, this isn't about the awards or breaking the male world record for the 100m dash of 4min 22sec. It's about the triumph of the human spirit. Just look at the smiles on the faces of those males. Everyone here today is a winner!
The Y chromosome is indeed a small genetic body that has relatively few genes, a lot of non-coding DNA and one important gene called 'TDF' - testosterone determining factor.
Y does not make testosterone - women can make the hormonse too, don't forget (some more than others!). TDF controls when large doses of testosterone are made, and where it is made. Two doses - one early in development and one at puberty - give males their male characteristics and enable their reproductive organs to be able to produce sperm.
With this gene, males are essentially female, as Turners Syndrome (I think it's called this) which is XO, essentially shows.
So while the Y chromosome accumulates silent mutations, TDF genes are not essential for living and can be passed on. If this scientist is correct, we should start seeing more cases of 'females' with XY chromosomes (the Y being essentially defunct as far as TDF goes). There are cases of this, but it is extremely rare.
What will happen if this is true? By that stage, science should be able to solve whatever downfalls. It's a long way off yet - 100,000 years might be a blink in the eye of evolution, but it is an eternity in terms of human endeavour.
In other organisms, the rate of mutation on the 'male' chromosome varies. AFAIK, most other chromosome-dependent species have essential genes on their 'Y' analogues, meaning the chromosome won't disappear.
The question is, how essential is being male to being alive.
Athon
Y does not make testosterone - women can make the hormonse too, don't forget (some more than others!). TDF controls when large doses of testosterone are made, and where it is made. Two doses - one early in development and one at puberty - give males their male characteristics and enable their reproductive organs to be able to produce sperm.
With this gene, males are essentially female, as Turners Syndrome (I think it's called this) which is XO, essentially shows.
So while the Y chromosome accumulates silent mutations, TDF genes are not essential for living and can be passed on. If this scientist is correct, we should start seeing more cases of 'females' with XY chromosomes (the Y being essentially defunct as far as TDF goes). There are cases of this, but it is extremely rare.
What will happen if this is true? By that stage, science should be able to solve whatever downfalls. It's a long way off yet - 100,000 years might be a blink in the eye of evolution, but it is an eternity in terms of human endeavour.
In other organisms, the rate of mutation on the 'male' chromosome varies. AFAIK, most other chromosome-dependent species have essential genes on their 'Y' analogues, meaning the chromosome won't disappear.
The question is, how essential is being male to being alive.
Athon
Eos of the Eons
Mad Scientist
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2003
- Messages
- 13,749
Yeah, we females make a bit of the hormones, but it is the Y that causes the fetus to become male. And yeah, we have some strange anomalies out there, but hardly a regular occurence that is steadily increasing throughout the population.
Having males around is essential to survival...how are women going to fertilize each other? Yeah yeh, I just like the man parts better than a test tube. I sure wouldn't want to be in a world without males, as much of a pain as most are
http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1303260.html
Having males around is essential to survival...how are women going to fertilize each other? Yeah yeh, I just like the man parts better than a test tube. I sure wouldn't want to be in a world without males, as much of a pain as most are
http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1303260.html