The article was published in the scientific journal Nature. It should be understood that all people have 23 pairs of chromosomes, one of which includes the sex chromosome. In women – XX, in men – ХY.

What scientists discovered

Scientists analyzed the genomes of the five great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, Bornean orangutans and Sumatran orangutans), as well as the smaller ape, the Siamese macaque, for the X and Y chromosomes. And in the end, they added human data to compare the indicators of the seven primates.

Y chromosomes are often very different between species, while X chromosomes are mostly similar.
– is included in the results.

What does this show?

More than 90% of monkey X chromosome sequences match the human X chromosome, indicating relatively little change over millions of years of evolution. At the same time, only 14–27% of monkey Y chromosomes overlap with the human version, indicating a large number of rapid changes.

“It’s amazing how different the Y chromosomes of these species are from each other. This shows that: Y chromosomes evolve very quickly“, explained researcher Kateryna Makova.

Scientists have suggested that the secret is that the Y chromosome does not exchange much genetic information with other chromosomes and is therefore prone to a large number of deletions (mutations in which part of the chromosome or DNA sequence is removed) and other types of deletions. It consists of mutations. Before, The Y chromosome shortens over time.

“The monkey’s Y chromosome shortens, accumulates and repeats many mutations, and also loses genes,” the scientists add.

Therefore, scientists assumed that: The Y chromosome is on its way to extinction in mammals. However, scientists believe that even if it decreases, it is unlikely to disappear completely.