the Ychromosome is now a weedy, genetic mess, riddled with damage, decay and mutation. It is, he says, slowly diminishing and ultimately doomed.
The reason is that the Ychromosome is unable to heal itself. Unlike men, women have two strapping X-chromosomes. These can pair up and swop genes to minimise bad mutations. The Y-chromosome of male DNA simply cannot do this.
And hence, natural mutations and damage simply keep accumulating through the generations.
In the face of this decline, the male’s Y-chromosome has no ‘partner’ from which to seek repairs. It is alone, and suffering what Prof Sykes calls ‘death from a thousand cuts’.
The evidence is all around us, and it’s not just the increasing feminisation of men, evolving over time into androgynous figures such as David Beckham. Prof Sykes also cites the increase in male infertility.