Paradise Gained

[Lantyssa]

Men Going Extinct

Imagine a world without men: Lauren Bacall but no Bogie, Hillary Clinton but no Bill, no Starsky or Hutch.

This isn't just an unlikely sci-fi scenario. This could be reality, according to Bryan Sykes, an eminent professor of genetics at Oxford University and author of "Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men."

"The Y chromosome is deteriorating and will, in my belief, disappear," Sykes told me. A world-renowned authority on genetic material, Sykes is called upon to investigate DNA evidence from crime scenes. His team of researchers is currently compiling a DNA family tree for our species.

Bye-bye guys.  I'll kind of miss you.

[Merusk]

Yeah, I heard about this last year when they had him on on NPR.  The caviat is that it's a 125k year timeframe.  Humans, as we currently exsist, have been around about 200k year.  Sooo... yeah.

Also, given that any complex creature on Earth I can think of has a male and female dynamic... I wouldn't mourn for men too much or too soon.

[Samwise]

So does he think that we're evolving toward asexual reproduction, or that we're evolving toward our own extinction (), or that this is some sort of irreversible process that has nothing to do with natural selection?

(edit) Okay, I bothered to read the article.

"Every generation one percent of men will have a mutation which reduces their fertility by 10 percent," explained Sykes. Unlike most chromosomes, the Y does not travel through the generation in pairs, so can never repair itself from a mirror. Flaws are never repaired. "So if that goes on for generation after generation," Sykes argued, "eventually there are no functioning Y chromosomes left."

So he's assuming that a mutation which reduces your fertility will have no impact on whether your genes are passed on to the next generation.

 

[stray]

Oh well.

If only the process could speed up a bit. I don't mind a world where I'm outnumbered by women.

[Signe]

[Llava]

It will be a strange world indeed with no  and only 

[lamaros]

 

[NowhereMan]

In the lightly scented, tastefully floral future of the 41st millenium there is only hawt lesbians.

[Endie]

We'll use our predominance in the physical sciences to save our endangered chromosome, our greater political clout to fund the exercise, and our physical strength and aggression to punch anyone who tries to stop us.  It's great being a man.

[Murgos]

"Every generation one percent of men will have a mutation which reduces their fertility by 10 percent," explained Sykes. Unlike most chromosomes, the Y does not travel through the generation in pairs, so can never repair itself from a mirror. Flaws are never repaired. "So if that goes on for generation after generation," Sykes argued, "eventually there are no functioning Y chromosomes left."

So he's assuming that a mutation which reduces your fertility will have no impact on whether your genes are passed on to the next generation.

 

Also, what about the 1% of men that have a mutation that increases their fertility by 10%?  The thing about random mutations is that they are random.  The thing about natural selection (which Samwise pointed out) is that only the positive mutations are very likely to carry forward.

[Signe]

We'll use our predominance in the physical sciences to save our endangered chromosome, our greater political clout to fund the exercise, and our physical strength and aggression to punch anyone who tries to stop us.  It's great being a man.

Idiot.  You forgot about our high pitched ear-drum shattering screeching and our well manicured yet deadly fingernails.   You don't stand a chance if women decide they want this to occur.  To be perfectly honest, if I hadn't eventually met Righ, I could have SO lived without men.  If I was 125 years younger, I'd be excited.

[Endie]

Idiot.  You forgot about our high pitched ear-drum shattering screeching and our well manicured yet deadly fingernails.   You don't stand a chance if women decide they want this to occur.  To be perfectly honest, if I hadn't eventually met Righ, I could have SO lived without men.  If I was 125 years younger, I'd be excited.

There, there my dear.  No need to get all flustered and emotional.

[IainC]

I for one welcome our hot, lesbian overlords (overladies?).

[murdoc]

It would take less than a week for them all to turn on each other without men to direct their hormones at.

[Engels]

It would take less than a week for them all to turn on each other without men to direct their hormones at.

No, they would probably keep a stable of men just for this type of event. They'd corall us into an arena, and then blow off steam by chasing us with crossbows and flame throwers.

[Morat20]

Also, what about the 1% of men that have a mutation that increases their fertility by 10%?  The thing about random mutations is that they are random.  The thing about natural selection (which Samwise pointed out) is that only the positive mutations are very likely to carry forward.

Also, the Y chromosome is effectively a very small set of genes replicated a HUGE number of times. I'm not sure if stacking penalties apply. :) So basically, it's not a problem since it's got a lot of almost exact copies internal to the Y chromosome to work with.

Not that it matters. We control our reproduction now. I'd imagine we're a century away, at most, from outright rewriting problematic genes in adults -- or just rewriting them because we want to look different than we do now.

[WindupAtheist]

The all-female society will be utopia.  Then someone will see a bug, and all hell will break loose.

[Polysorbate80]

Sometime in the future of the all-female world:  The X chromosome is rapidly deteriorating, dooming all to a hideous demise (hint: flatulence is involved).

But wait!  The brilliant minds of the world's top scientists have devised a cure!  A simple method indeed; only a few pickles are needed!

A few scant decades later, the world's last surviving woman looks forlornly at the jar of pickles she holds, wishing there were someone, ANYONE, who could open it....

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"I have a hammer! I can put things together! I can knock things apart! I can alter my environment at will and make an incredible din all the while! Ah, it's great to be male!" --Calvin

[Viin]

Didn't they make a movie about this? And don't you people remember how it ended?

Also: Butch lezbos still act like men.

[DarkSign]

I dont think he's taking into account how much men jerk-off. I think we're accelerating at a frightening pace based on my own calculations. 

[Phildo]

There was an episode of Sliders about this.  Jerry O'Connell gets put into a breeding camp with a few of the surviving men.  Or was it the other O'Connell?  I can't keep them straight.

[Llava]

IT TIME SNU SNU.

[K9]

Also, given that any complex creature on Earth I can think of has a male and female dynamic... I wouldn't mourn for men too much or too soon.

Tardigrades, over 1000 species, all asexual and they've been that way for a very long time.

[Endie]

I'll see your tardigrades, and raise you the more pertinent, all-female New Mexico Whiptail.

There are actually tons of insects, fish and even a few birds and others that reproduce using parthenogenesis.  The other routes of asexual reproduction are, I think, confined to less impressive forms of life.

[Merusk]

Ah the stuff you wish they covered in 'advanced' high school biology instead of the crap they DID cover. 

Endie's example is 'higher' than the "Water Bears" (from what I read about the arthropods) and that's just nifty.  Still, no mammalian examples atm.  Woo we might get to be the first.

[Righ]

There are actually tons of insects, fish and even a few birds and others that reproduce using parthenogenesis.

Its probably just that naughty Holy Spirit having his wicked way with betrothed virgins again.

Can you imagine the traffic nightmare if there's only women driving?

[WayAbvPar]

Its probably just that naughty Holy Spirit having his wicked way with betrothed virgins again.

That totally explains this!. I can sleep better at night now.

[lamaros]

Ah the stuff you wish they covered in 'advanced' high school biology instead of the crap they DID cover. 

Endie's example is 'higher' than the "Water Bears" (from what I read about the arthropods) and that's just nifty.  Still, no mammalian examples atm.  Woo we might get to be the first.

What you need to look for is examples of mammals going extinct in this way. Their in no indication in any of this that we are heading for an alternate method of reproduction.

[Lantyssa]

What you need to look for is examples of mammals going extinct in this way. Their in no indication in any of this that we are heading for an alternate method of reproduction.

IVF...

[Samwise]

Don't you still need viable sperm for that?

[Lantyssa]

It's not the way Grandma and Grandpa use to do it, so the method has changed.  Considering the things scientists have done with animals, it's just a matter of time until the methods change more.  Even if most of the population continues with the traditional bump-n-grind, there are alternatives.

[Paelos]

I hear kids are doing it in the ear these days.

[Nebu]

After reading the article, I expected it to be from the Onion.  Comedy gold.

[lamaros]

It's not the way Grandma and Grandpa use to do it, so the method has changed.  Considering the things scientists have done with animals, it's just a matter of time until the methods change more.  Even if most of the population continues with the traditional bump-n-grind, there are alternatives.

We're talking about genetic mutations, though. We're not at that point yet. Even attempting to get to that point is illegal in most countries, is it not?

[Signe]

Fruit flies everywhere are laughing at us.