Biologists know of cases when this or that individual suddenly changes its sex. Such a feature is possessed, for example, by some types of fish, worms, etc. Does the future threaten people with a similar transformation? The following considerations force us to ask this, at first glance, absurd question.
The sewer system of a modern city processes millions of liters of liquid waste, which contains, among other things, hormones excreted from our body. The ones that determine the sex of a person. Among them are the female hormone, estrogen. So, about 10 years ago, scientists noticed interesting changes in fish living in rivers near sewers.
Dr. Jeff Brighty of the UK Environmental Protection Agency explains:
“There is a link between wastewater and estrogenic effects in fish. It affects them in different ways - from the formation of eggs in males to the appearance of hermaphrodites.
Until recently, it was suggested that this may be caused by synthetic estrogen, which, for example, is massively consumed with birth control pills. However, recent studies have shown that such changes in fish can only be caused by natural female hormones that enter the water along with urine …"
Some researchers draw very impressive conclusions from such observations. Wait, they say, there will be more. Soon the stronger sex will become weaker.
And they give depressing facts. According to clinical studies, over the past half century, the number of sperm in men has decreased by 2 times. The number of diseases of their genitals is growing steadily. As Dr. Paul Harison points out, testicular cancer has doubled since 1970 in many countries.
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And now a new attack is added to this. After all, female sex hormones have the ability to affect not only fish, but also people, that is, of course, men - women and their hormone in abundance. Is this why gentlemen are gradually losing the distinctive dignity inherited from Adam?
“And this is even good for humanity,” said neurochemist Dorothy Tchaikovskaya-Mayevskaya, who works at the National Institutes of Health in Roxilla, Maryland. - At least there is nothing tragic about that. Already today testosterone, the main male sex hormone, from which one can expect anything, up to the blasphemous transformation of a developing female fetus into a male one, is not very much needed in the modern world."
Yes, in the primitive era, when there was a struggle for survival, the influence of testosterone, which increases aggressiveness, was life-saving. Well, now, when the success of a person in society and of society itself is more determined by intelligence, the ability to cooperate, the advantages of mental labor over physical, aggressive behavior harms both the individual and those around him.
No wonder young people with high testosterone levels account for more than 90 percent of those seriously injured in motorcycle and car accidents; about the same with an excess of hormone and among criminals serving sentences for fights, robberies, rape.
After that, how not to evaluate the process observed in some tissues in men - the processing of testosterone into estrogen? On the one hand, the latter plays an important role in the development and functioning of the brain. On the other hand, there is a clear relationship between intelligence and the concentration of testosterone in the blood: the lower it is in men, the higher their linguistic, mathematical, artistic and other creative abilities. Those, by the way, for which, according to statistics, the fair sex is in the lead.
Male intelligence, as shown by tests conducted in Canada, is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Typically male talents - spatial orientation, rigid logic, etc. - They show themselves best in spring, when the level of testosterone in the blood, contrary to popular opinion (remember at least the March cats), is the lowest. Conversely, many wars began in the fall, when testosterone levels peaked.
And a few more facts. Sociological surveys have confirmed what has already been recorded among animals: neuter mortality is lower than that of normal men at the same age. Well, the fact that women live on average 8 years longer than men has long been known.
When older men, still gazing with appetite at the fair sex, began to artificially inject testosterone, the miracle of rejuvenation happened to them. But, alas, it was too short-lived and, as a rule, ended sadly - heart attack or stroke, prostate cancer, etc.
So, as they say, everything has its time. And in general, aren't we exaggerating the importance of sex too much? Perhaps, for the sake of the further development of civilization, when an intense mental commitment and peaceful coexistence of all members of society is required, it is worth accepting the thought of the coming parthenogenesis of people?
Zigunenko S. N. from the book "The greatest mysteries of man"
In addition
Professor Jenny Graves of the Australian National University in 2012 at a conference said that the male Y chromosome is very fragile - it does not manage to repair the damage caused by the environment. During the period of human evolution, 1393 of 1438 genes were destroyed in this chromosome. Imagine, only 45 genes remain from the original set!
By the way, this does not happen with female X chromosomes. Ultimately, Grace assures, the Y chromosome will lose all of its genes that ensure the production of male hormones (SRY gene), and in the next 10 million years, men as a biological subspecies may well be on the verge of extinction.
Moreover, the researcher is convinced that due to such a mutation, two, and perhaps more, sex-determining systems will arise. That is, two different types of man will simply appear in addition to the existing one - woman.
The men were not frightened by such a performance by their colleague. Oxford University professor Brian Saykis optimistically stated that there is no need to worry - at this stage in the development of science, the disappearance of men will not affect the extinction of people on the planet as a whole. Say, existing technologies allow to support humanity at the expense of the resources of only the female body.