The Y chromosome is the chromosome which identify the man from the woman, as the genes of the men are XY and the genes of the women are XX.
A previous study suggested that the man will extinct due to the partially vanishing of Y chromosome through the years.
A new study gave a new hope for humanity, as the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT researchers with the lead of Jennifer Hughes proved that the decay of the Y chromosome has stopped now.
They have now sequenced the Y chromosome of the rhesus monkey, which is separated from humans by 25 million years of evolution.
The conclusion from these comparative studies is that genetic decay has in recent history been minimal, with the human chromosome having lost no further genes in the last six million years, and only one in the last 25 million years.
Most humans cells contain 23 sets of chromosomes, including one pair of sex chromosomes. In women, this sex pair consist of two X chromosomes, while men have one X and one Y chromosome. It is a gene within the Y chromosome which triggers the development in the embryo of male testes and the secretion of male hormones.
Professor Julian Parkhill visits the Wellcome Collection to unravel the science behind the genome
Genetic deterioration of the Y chromosome has occurred because unlike with the two X chromosomes in women, there is very little swapping of genetic material between the Y and X chromosome during reproduction. This means mutations and deletions in the Y chromosome are preserved between (male) generations.