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A new study shows that men may not become extinct after all, the BBC reported.

Previous research has suggested the Y sex chromosome is decaying genetically so fast that it will be extinct in five million years. But a new study in Nature suggests the genetic decay has all but ended.

Scientists have now sequenced the Y chromosome of the rhesus monkey, which is separated from humans by 25 million years of evolution. The conclusion from comparative studies is that genetic decay has been minimal, with the human chromosome having lost no further genes in the last six million years, and only one in the last 25 million years.

（点击BBC网站查看原文）

男人不可能灭绝

       据英国广播公司报道，最新研究显示，男人不可能绝迹。

       之前有学者称，Y染色体基因正在快速衰退，可能在500万年后绝迹。但发表在《自然》杂志上的论文称，基因衰退已基本结束。

       2500万年前，猕猴与人类的祖先在进化过程中分道扬镳，而科学家把猕猴的Y染色体基因进行排序后，与人类基因进行对比，得出结论：基因衰退微乎其微，在过去600万年间，人类染色体没有任何缺少基因，而上溯至2500万年前，也只缺失了一种基因。

(China.org.cn February 27, 2012)