Men Can Rest Easy: Sex Chromosomes Are Here to Stay

Men Can Rest Easy: Sex Chromosomes Are Here to Stay

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Fears that sex-linked chromosomes, such as the male Y chromosome, are doomed to extinction have been refuted in a new genetic study which examines the sex chromosomes of chickens.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at how genes on sex-linked chromosomes are passed down generations and linked to fertility, using the specific example of the W chromosome in female chickens. The results confirm that although these chromosomes have shrunk over millions of years, and have lost many of their original genes, those that remain are extremely important in predicting fertility and are, therefore, unlikely to become extinct.