Welcome back @EmmaFaber

I hope you're getting all the rest you need for full recovery. You seem to be back in full force already though!

I would like to get your opinion sometime on how sex and sexual dimorphism began in the distant past; I think that it emerged as a twofold evolutionary adva rage, faster mutation through a less stable male genome and security through recombination every generation (allowing for "good" genes from multiple lineages to be combined, and the possibility to remove deleterious genes from the pool with less overall risk).

For organisms with large genomes, like humans, there are LOTS of mutations every single generation, so no one is just "mother and father combined"! They're that plus all these extra random changes.

Note though, that the rate of male mutation is higher...


[The average mutation rate was estimated to be approximately 2.5 x 10(-8) mutations per nucleotide site or 175 mutations per diploid genome per generation...

Comparison of rates of evolution for X-linked and autosomal pseudogenes suggests that the male mutation rate is 4 times the female mutation rate, but provides no evidence for a reduction in mutation rate that is specific to the X chromosome...

This high rate is difficult to reconcile with multiplicative fitness effects of individual mutations and suggests that synergistic epistasis among harmful mutations may be common.]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1461236/#:~:text=The%20average%20mutation%20rate%20was,per%20diploid%20genome%20per%20generation.

I'll get back to you another time if that's better, this is a huge topic and there's a lot of other more pressing issues, but I wanted to touch base on this.

@xenmen

Thank you, it is good to be back👍

So regarding the article let us say the male is a parasite that Commandeered an X chromosome and dumped out all the original material in it it couldn't use and replaced it with it's own material to accommodate itself

It, the Y Chromosome constantly has to mutate to hang on, meanwhile the X Chromosome remains pretty static

it's like being on the waltzers at the fun fair.. the waltzers are busy spinning round and the people sitting inside them hold on to them for grim death
while the guy who takes the money stands on the waltzers remaining motionless..

Genes in the X Chromosome get switched on and off, while in the Y Chromosome they are all permanently on and if their is something wrong with one of those genes on the Y chromosome, the chromosome is forced to mutate to compensate for it

where as women because they have 2 chromosomes to choose from can turn off the bad gene in one of them and turn on the good gene in the other...

@EmmaFaber

But sex predates humans, even worms have discrete sexes.

It seems to have started with single called bacteria:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilus

How do you feel about pilusi in bacteria?

Is it just the Y chromosome in human males you have issue with, or in all sexed life?

@xenmen

Why call males human when they are merely parasites on human's?