Fragility of male sex chromosome has caused it to shed more than 900 genes over the course of evolution, but one recently discovered protective mechanism may yet save the day. While this may sound far-fetched, the animal kingdom throws up some scary precedents. Whiptail lizards are a case in point: they have already evolved into a self-sustaining species composed entirely of females. Others believe that, before such a perfectly matriarchal society could ever come to fruition on a global scale, the earth would be destroyed by nuclear Armageddon, a renegade asteroid, Men are living on borrowed time, according to a leading female scientist.

Professor Jenny Graves even claims the male of the species is heading for extinction.

And chaps, the bad news doesn’t end there, because the process may have already started. 

A CHROMOSOME CRISIS

The female, or X, chromosome, contains around 1,000 genes, and females have two of them.  

The Y chromosome started off with as many genes as its female counterpart.  

But over hundreds of millions of years it has crumbled away, leaving fewer than 100 genes in modern man.

This includes the SRY gene, the ‘male master switch’ that determines whether an embryo is male or female. 

What is more, while women have two X chromosomes, men have just one, ‘wimpy’, Y. 

This is key, as the pairing allows the X to make crucial repairs. 

Lacking a mate, the Y chromosome finds it more difficult to patch up mistakes and so decays away. 

Professor Graves, one of Australia’s most influential scientists, believes that women will win the battle of the sexes – and in the most definitive way possible.

She says that the inherent fragility of the male sex chromosome, the Y sex chromosome, means that men are sliding towards extinction. 

Professor Graves’s prediction hinges around the number of genes on the male and female sex chromosomes.

The female, or X, chromosome, contains a healthy 1,000 or so genes.  

What's more, girls and women have two of them. 

The Y chromosome started off with as many genes as its female counterpart.  

But over hundreds of millions of years it has crumbled away, leaving fewer than 100 genes in modern man.

This includes the SRY gene, the ‘male master switch’ that determines whether an embryo is male or female. 

What is more, while women have two X chromosomes, men have just one, ‘wimpy’, Y. 

This is key, as the pairing allows the X to make crucial repairs.  

Lacking a mate, the Y chromosome finds it more difficult to patch up mistakes and so decays away. 

Professor Graves, of Canberra University, said: ‘The X chromosome is all alone in the male but in the female it has a friend, so it can swop bits and repair itself. 

‘If the Y gets hit, it’s a downward spiral.’ 

Giving a public lecture, the professor said: ‘It is very bad news for all the men here.’ 

And there is more bad news. 

In her talk at the Australian Academy of Science, the professor described the remaining genes on the Y chromosome as being mostly ‘junk’. 

She said: ‘It’s a lovely example of what I call dumb design. 

‘It’s an evolutionary accident.’

However,  there is some good news.