Colbert: MIT Professor David Page Extended Interview on the evolution of the Y chromosome

[pokerfan]

Wasn't enough time on the show last night...

Monday March 26, 2012

In this unedited, extended interview, biomedical researcher Dr. David Page discusses the evolution of the Y chromosome.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/411143/march-26-2012/exclusive---david-page-extended-interview

[seabeyond]

1. i am glad men are going to be ok. maybe they can stop obsessing about it now.

that was some X chromosone though, i am tellin ya.

[pokerfan]

2. It's not even the largest human chromosome

but it looks like that was the correct proportion between X and Y:


[center][/center]

The human Y chromosome has lost 1,393 of its 1,438 original genes over the course of its existence. With a rate of genetic loss of 4.6 genes per million years, the Y chromosome may potentially lose complete function within the next 10 million years.

Comparative genomic analysis, however, reveals that many mammalian species are experiencing a similar loss of function in their heterozygous sex chromosome. Degeneration may simply be the fate of all nonrecombining sex chromosomes due to three common evolutionary forces: high mutation rate, inefficient selection and genetic drift.

On the other hand, recent comparisons of the human and chimpanzee Y chromosomes show that the human Y chromosome has not lost any genes since the divergence of humans and chimpanzees between 6–7 million years ago, and only one gene since humans diverged from the rhesus macaque 25 million years ago, providing direct evidence that the linear extrapolation model is flawed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y_chromosome#Shrinking_theory

[center]The Y chromosome decoded:

[/center]

[seabeyond]

3. ya, well....

all this is over my head, but the two were funny... and cute.

i like the diagram you put up. cute

[ladywnch]

4. I liked how he said something about, 'as soon as this mutation

takes place (the Y mutation) the new Y stopped communicating with the X chromosome...and that caused a degeneration of itself'.....just like in real life. LMAO!

[pokerfan]

5. definitely a metaphor there (nt)