Insight into human sex ratio imbalance: the more boys born, the more infertile men

被引:4
作者
Cheng, Hanhua
Shang, Xuan
He, Yan
Zhang, Tao
Zhang, Ya-Ping
Zhou, Ronglia [1 ]
机构
[1] Wuhan Univ, Coll Life Sci, Ctr Dev Biol, Dept Genet, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China
[2] Chinese Acad Sci, Kunming Inst Zool, Lab Cellular & Mol Evolut, Kunming 650223, Peoples R China
基金
中国国家自然科学基金;
关键词
adaptation; evolution; male infertility; population; reproduction; sex ratio;
D O I
10.1016/S1472-6483(10)60378-1
中图分类号
R71 [妇产科学];
学科分类号
100211 ;
摘要
This study investigated, through large-scale statistical analysis of the global population, whether the human sex ratio is skewing worldwide, and if so, why and how it shifts, and the impact of any shift on human reproduction. A significant imbalance of the sex ratio was observed in the whole human population, resulting in a vicious circle where the more boys born, the more infertile men occur as a consequence of the adjustment of the human sex ratio. It is proposed that both accelerated degeneration of the Y chromosome and dynamically differential fertilization of the egg by the X- and Y-bearing spermatozoa may contribute to the changing structure of the human population, suggesting a potential selection pressure favouring an alternative sex-determining/differentiation system for the human species: the DMRT] gene on the autosome may tend to replace the SRY gene on tile Y chromosome as a master sex-determining gene during evolution. These viewpoints may open a debate on the future of the human race, and assist in guiding diagnostic, prognostic and preventive treatments of human infertility and in defining population policy.
引用
收藏
页码:487 / 494
页数:8
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