S6.06: Bye-bye boys: The genetics behind the extinction of males
Hello, and welcome to Genetics Unzipped - the Genetics Society podcast, with me, Dr Sally Le Page. In this episode we’re saying bye-bye to the boys, and exploring whether new gene technologies and climate change will make males extinct.
A quick little note before we get started with the episode. We are obviously a genetics podcast so when we’re talking about males and females, we’re going to be talking a lot about genetic sex determination and cool stories from the world of genetics that affect the sexes of a whole host of species.
When it comes to humans, we recognise that there’s a whole lot more to human sexual characteristics, gender and sexuality than just two chromosomes, certainly more than can fit into a half hour podcast. But as a former evolutionary biologist with more than a passing professional interest in sex, or rather, sex determination, I think chromosomes are as good a place as any to start…
Chromosomal control: How X and Y chromosomes control genetic sex determination
From XX and XY to ZZ and ZW, we take a look at how genetics controls sex.
Hot stuff: how climate change is affecting sex ratios
For species whose sex is influenced by temperature, like turtles and toads, climate change could cause a catastrophic shift in the balance of males to females.
Sexing chicks: How genetically modified female-only chickens could transform the egg industry
New GM technology that selects only female chicks to hatch could improve animal welfare - but what might be the real cost?
Why Y bye-bye? Is the Y chromosome disappearing and will men really go extinct?
The Y chromosome is shrinking - but this doesn’t mean that males will vanish altogether. For the Amami spiny rat, this has already happened - so how do they cope?
Upcoming deadlines at the Genetics Society
Here’s a reminder of what’s coming up over the next two weeks from the Genetics Society.
The deadline to apply for the Junior Scientist Conference Grants is the 1st of April. These grants are open to undergraduate, Master’s, PhD students and recent postdoctoral scientists to support attendance at genetics conferences. You can apply for up to £1000 towards travel, accommodation and registration fees.
That’s all for now. We’ll be back next time taking a look at direct-to-consumer genetic tests after Chris Hemsworth made the news for revealing he has the APOE4 gene that puts him at the highest risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Should people be getting health predictions from an online test? And what are the consequences?
For more information about this podcast including show notes, transcripts, links, references and everything else head over to geneticsunzipped.com You can find us on Twitter @geneticsunzip and please do take a moment to leave us a rating in the Spotify app or review us on Apple podcasts - it really makes a difference and helps more people discover the show.
This episode of Genetics Unzipped was written, presented and produced by me, Sally Le Page, with additional research by Eleanor Bird. It’s a First Create the Media production for The Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to promoting research, training, teaching and public engagement in all areas of genetics. You can find out more and apply to join at genetics.org.uk. The executive producer is Kat Arney, our theme music was composed by Dan Pollard, the logo was designed by James Mayall, and our editor is the wonderful Emma Werner. Thanks for listening, and until next time, goodbye.
Image credits:
Drosophila melanogaster, Image courtesy of Hannah Davis (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Karyotype Human 46,XY, Image courtesy of Josef Reischig (CC BY-SA 3.0)
