Are men an endangered species?
is Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, has had a remarkable scientific career in genetics. After undertaking medical research into the causes of inherited bone disease, he set out to discover if DNA, the genetic material, could possibly survive in ancient bones. It did and he was the first to report on the recovery of ancient DNA from archaeological bone in the journal "Nature" in 1989. Since then Professor Sykes has been called in as the leading international authority to examine several high profile cases, such as the Ice Man, Cheddar Man and the many individuals claiming to be surviving members of the Russian Royal Family. Alongside this, he and his research team have over the last ten years compiled by far the most complete DNA family tree of our species yet seen.He has always emphasised the importance of the individual in shaping our genetic world. The website www.oxfordancestors.com offers people the chance to find out for themselves, from a DNA sample, where they fit in. As well as a scientist, Bryan Sykes has been a television news reporter and a parliamentary science adviser. He is the author of The Seven Daughters of Eve and Adam's Curse.
In this one book there is a detailed description of how human chromosomes are prepared for microscopic study; an imagined view of human social development, described from the viewpoint of the planet; an analysis of the number of male children born to residents of a harem; and much, much more. The subject of this book is the Y chromosome, the smallest one, responsible for male development. This audiobook is a conglomeration of interesting facts, fanciful theories, and sometimes elegant intellectual meanderings. It is well written, verbose, repetitive, factual, highly speculative, occasionally in error, and, all in all, very interesting. The author's previous book (The Seven Daughters of Eve) on female-transmitted mitochondrial DNA was a best seller. Christopher Kay reads what must be largely unfamiliar and difficult vocabulary with very few errors and a charming inflection. Entertaining and informative popular science titles are relatively rare; this one is recommended for all moderate to large public and academic libraries.-I. Pour-El, Des Moines Area Community Coll., Boone, IA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Well-known Oxford geneticist Sykes (The Seven Daughters of Eve), in this lively and thought-provoking book, gives a genetic twist to the battle between the sexes. All human existence, he says, stems from the battle between the X and Y chromosomes to further their own reproduction at the expense of the other. The Y chromosome is passed on only by fathers, while mitochondrial DNA is passed on only by mothers. Sykes shows that many members of several Scottish clans (most notably the Macdonalds) can be traced via their Y chromosomes back to a common ancestor. Researchers have also been able to trace the extent of Viking settlement and intermarriage in the British Isles and northern Europe through Y chromosome distribution. Sykes's argument for a genetic role in homosexuality will undoubtedly be controversial. Using Dean Hamer's pedigrees, he claims that evidence points less to a "gay gene" than to mitochondrial DNA playing the leading role in a Machiavellian plot to further its own reproduction. Sykes concludes by noting that, as evidenced by declining sperm counts and high percentages of abnormal sperm, among other variables, the Y chromosome is a genetic mess and is deteriorating so quickly that men could become extinct. Those who find that a happy thought will want to snap up this book, as well as readers interested in learning what our chromosomes tell us about where we came from and where we may be headed. 6 illus. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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