The human Y chromosome: an evolutionary marker comes of age.
Jobling MA, Tyler-Smith C.
Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. maj4@le.ac.uk
Until recently, the Y chromosome seemed to fulfil the role of juvenile delinquent among human chromosomes--rich in junk, poor in useful attributes, reluctant to socialize with its neighbours and with an inescapable tendency to degenerate. The availability of the near-complete chromosome sequence, plus many new polymorphisms, a highly resolved phylogeny and insights into its mutation processes, now provide new avenues for investigating human evolution. Y-chromosome research is growing up.
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PMID: 12897772 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]