Loss of male sex chromosome leads to shortened longevity for men

The X and Y chromosome

A pair of sex chromosomes is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes found in human cells.

Every bodily cell has the X chromosome. It contains our genes, or the codes for our inherited characteristics.

Persons who are naturally male have one X and one Y chromosome, whereas biologically feminine people have two X chromosomes (XX) (XY).

The X chromosome is now about three times the size of the Y chromosome and contains about 900 genes, whereas the smaller Y chromosome has only about 71 genes and has lost about 97% of its ancestral genes, despite deriving from the same pair of autosomes (non-sex chromosomes).

The Y chromosome had previously been thought to have a very little impact. It has also been suggested that the Y chromosome contains very little genetic information.

Men don't simply lose their hair, muscular mass, and cartilage in their knees as they age. Additionally, they begin losing Y chromosomes from their cells. Genetic decay has also wreaked havoc on the Y chromosome.

What happens when men lose their Y chromosome?

The Y chromosome, while having a reputation for being strong, is a wimp, carrying just 71 genes, or less than one-tenth as many as the X chromosome.

That might be the reason the chromosome isn't always passed on when a cell divides.

The simplest method to identify Y loss is to analyse blood samples, and researchers have discovered that the chromosome is absent from certain white blood cells in roughly 40% of 70-year-olds and 57% of 93-year-olds.

More than 80% of the cells in certain elderly males may lack a Y chromosome.

Even though cells without a Y chromosome can still live and grow, males who lack this chromosome in part of their cells are more prone to develop heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and other age-related diseases.

Additionally, the illness may be the cause of males dying on average 5 years earlier than women.

Smokers tend to be more susceptible to the loss of the Y chromosome, which mostly affects cells that divide quickly, such as blood cells.

Men who lose their Y chromosome are more likely to die early and develop age-related diseases like Alzheimer's disease, according to research.

So is it true that Men are dying?

Even if the Y chromosome does vanish in humans, this does not necessarily indicate that males as a species would follow suit. Males and females are both required for reproduction, even in organisms that have fully lost their Y chromosomes.

These species may create men without the need for a Y chromosome because the SRY "master switch" gene, which controls genetic maleness, has shifted to a separate chromosome in these instances.

The same lack of recombination that killed their previous Y chromosome should then cause the new sex-determining chromosome, the one that SRY goes on to, to begin the degeneration process all over again.

In conclusion,

Humans are unique in that, despite the Y chromosome's requirement for normal human reproduction, many of the genes it contains are not required if you employ assisted reproductive technologies.

As a result, same-sex female couples or infertile males may soon be able to conceive thanks to genetic engineering, which might replace the Y chromosome's gene function.

Even if everyone could conceive in this manner, it seems exceedingly improbable that fertile people would suddenly quit procreating normally.