Adam’s Curse
A future without men
By Bryan Sykes
The title of this book is a bit misleading. It is not about feminism.
Bryan Sykes is a very eminent Professor of Human Genetics at Oxford who writes extremely well, simplifying the most complex of concepts for non-scientists like myself.
If you are at all interested in the great (absolutely mind-blowing!) strides that have been made in human genetic studies in the last 20 years, this is a good book to start with. It sets the gene scene, then goes on to discuss what actually makes a man (one little switching gene normally found skulking on the Y chromosome) and how destructive men have proved to be over the years. (Well, they have certainly made their presence felt in history!)
He asked men with common surnames (like the McDonalds) to donate some DNA (a cheek swab) and discovered that most of them are actually closely related. This led him to ask why these super powerful groups developed, with one Y-chromosome out-competing others, and came to the conclusion that women were partly to blame. Society today, Sykes regards as an example of runaway sexual selection where women have been selecting powerful, property owning, wealthy mates since the domestication of crops allowed a sedentary society.
But, his studies on male infertility have also led him to ask why more and more men (in England I presume) are becoming infertile. In a couple of thousand generations he reckons, irreparable damage will be done to the hectically dividing Y-chromosome that is already degenerating leaving women to figure out how to continue the species on their own. (Well, some animals apparently manage quite well without males!)
It is a fascinating and absorbing book.
A future without men
By Bryan Sykes
The title of this book is a bit misleading. It is not about feminism.
Bryan Sykes is a very eminent Professor of Human Genetics at Oxford who writes extremely well, simplifying the most complex of concepts for non-scientists like myself.
If you are at all interested in the great (absolutely mind-blowing!) strides that have been made in human genetic studies in the last 20 years, this is a good book to start with. It sets the gene scene, then goes on to discuss what actually makes a man (one little switching gene normally found skulking on the Y chromosome) and how destructive men have proved to be over the years. (Well, they have certainly made their presence felt in history!)
He asked men with common surnames (like the McDonalds) to donate some DNA (a cheek swab) and discovered that most of them are actually closely related. This led him to ask why these super powerful groups developed, with one Y-chromosome out-competing others, and came to the conclusion that women were partly to blame. Society today, Sykes regards as an example of runaway sexual selection where women have been selecting powerful, property owning, wealthy mates since the domestication of crops allowed a sedentary society.
But, his studies on male infertility have also led him to ask why more and more men (in England I presume) are becoming infertile. In a couple of thousand generations he reckons, irreparable damage will be done to the hectically dividing Y-chromosome that is already degenerating leaving women to figure out how to continue the species on their own. (Well, some animals apparently manage quite well without males!)
It is a fascinating and absorbing book.
The author
Bryan Sykes has been a Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford since 1997 and is a Fellow of Wolfson College. After discovering how to extract DNA from human fossils, his 
research has used genetics to explore many aspects of human evolution particularly as revealed by mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomes. His three books on genetics The Seven Daughters of Eve, Adam's Curse and Blood of the Isles are all written with the general reader in mind. When not in Oxford, Bryan lives on the Isle of Skye off the north-west coast of Scotland.
research has used genetics to explore many aspects of human evolution particularly as revealed by mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomes. His three books on genetics The Seven Daughters of Eve, Adam's Curse and Blood of the Isles are all written with the general reader in mind. When not in Oxford, Bryan lives on the Isle of Skye off the north-west coast of Scotland.For more information on the author and his work, go to http://www.oxfordancestors.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
This comment on Adam’s Curse by Bryan Sykes (Corgi, 2004) by Caroline.
Woodlands Bookclub rating: 5
Woodlands Bookclub rating: 5
Book no 2167 (Caroline)
