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51 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genes at War, April 1, 2004
Sykes has done it again with this follow-up of his "Seven Daughters of Eve." "Adam's Curse" is a terrific survey of the latest findings on human genetics as told through the Y chromosome, inherited exclusively through one's father. There are plenty of new ideas here, coupled with a rather informative short course on the twentieth century's additions to Darwin's theory of evolution. This is not a dry recitation of the facts, by any means. It contains his personal story of unraveling some of these puzzles himself, told in an a lively and amusing manner, sure to hold the reader's interest. There are history lessons, such as the one about the lamentable foul-ups of the microscopists trying to count the chromosomes. And Sykes tale of observing his own Y chromosome, carrying out the manipulations with his own hands, is described in some detail. There are stories about his coworkers, including the giant William Hamilton, who probably is second only to Darwin in developing the theory of evolution. But mostly it is the story of the application of modern genetics to the varied populations of the world, the story of their migrations and conquests, and the struggle of the Y chromosome to survive. Sykes' distinct approach is to apply some relatively simple molecular probes to Y chromosomes obtained from many individuals in a variety of populations on a fairly big scale, rather than the other important task, carried on by a myriad of scientists, of trying to understand all the biological minutiae of a single prototypical human. His finding the Y chromosome inherited today by about 500,000 descendants of the founder of the MacDonald, MacDougalls and the MacAlisters Clans is quite fun to read, and the similar tale of his discovering the Sykes clan reveals something about how curiosity driven science can be so deeply satisfying. The stories of the Vikings, the Polynesians, the Great Khan, and conquest by the Spaniards in South America are all covered here and the new insights revealed by their Y chromosomes gives a tantalizing glimpse of those still to come from other parts of the world. I can't wait. Probably most unusual for a book of this sort, is that Sykes, a distinguished scientist, lays on some pretty far out, half-baked, probably wrong, but testable ideas about such things as the origin of homosexuality, the war between the sexes from the perspective of the Y and mitochondrial chromosomes, and even the possible future course of the evolution of the Y to its ultimate demise. This is a refreshing contrast to the plodding certainties of the refereed publications of the academics, hedged about with all the required caveats and cautions. In spite of his sometimes over-anthropomorphized chromosomes, this is an entertaining read, rewarding to readers yearning to understand the human beast.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Somerled Descendant Speaks, September 6, 2004
Unlike the other Amazon reviewers of the book, I am not an outside observer ... I'm actually in the book, as I'm one of the "Somerled people" he has a whole chapter about. That is, I share the same DNA as the MacDonalds he tested and claimed were descended from Somerled, a Viking who was the hero of the Gaelic northern Scots.
This is a wonderful chapter, well written and compelling ... especially for me! It's also quite correct. Unfortunately Prof. Sykes won't share his DNA results with other researchers, genealogists, and the general Clan Donald membership, so a new study was set up by the Clan Donald, and I am privy to their actual numbers. They are rock solid proof.
Seeing the actual numbers .... the Clan Donald study has published the most likely actual DNA marker numbers for Somerled ... leads farther back. Sykes's next chapter after MacDonald is about Genghis Khan, who hailed from central Asia. Interestingly, and this is where secrecy can be counterproductive, someone noticed that Somerled numbers, as well as lots of Icelanders' ones, showed a close affinity for men in a certain central Asian tribe. Time will tell whether the Vikings themselves came from central Asia. Stay tuned.
I found most of the book, not just my own chapter, quite entertaining, except for the part that makes up the title. It is simply baloney. As others have reviewed, Sykes has a good popular style and gets across a goodly dose of the science of DNA to the non-genealogist layman. It's just the disastrously stupid idea that human men will disappear ... it's odd he does not note that the exact same argument applies to all mammals .... and they've been around a LONG time ... that ruins this book. I need not say much more, as others have pilloried Sykes sufficiently for his transgressions.
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44 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Sykes needs to retake Bio 101, June 24, 2004
Mr. Sykes needs to read a small work known as "The Origin of Species" by a Mr. Charles Robert Darwin. Disregarding the post-publication discoveries of mitochondrial DNA's ability to undergo recombination with the Y chromosome and the fact that Y chromosome is capable of some sophisticated self-repair (unlike other chromosomes). Sykes has sadly, started with some false assumptions and jumps to some poor conclusions. He says: "Originally the Y-chromosome was a perfectly respectable chromosome [sic] but its fate was sealed when it took on the mantle of creating males. This probably happened in the early ancestors of mammals, perhaps 100m years ago when a mutation on the ancestor of the Y-chromosome suddenly, and quite by chance, enabled it to switch on the embryonic pathway to male development." This is a false assumption, the chromosome didn't become enabled "quite by chance" on a organism/populational scale. This trait was, according to theory, selected for the advantages it conferred on the species. In accordance with this theory, the ticking time-bomb type of number that Sykes gives as 125K years seems whimsical, especially, given the approximate age of homo sapiens of 250K years. First off, I don't beleive for a second that given the rate of information tech and biotech advancement that anyone can make any predictions more than about 100-200 yrs. in advance. Clearly, we males won't all lose function at the same rate and end at the magical 1% fertility at 125K years. Intrinsically, those who are less fertile won't reproduce as prolifically as those who, for any number of reasons (some of which are already being uncovered), maintain functionality. Interestingly, Sykes cites only one other species who is/has this problem, the vole. This is astonishing for two reasons: 1)Lots of other sexed animals turnover much faster/slower than us reproductively speaking, which would accelerate/decelerate their demise. 2) Lots of other sexed animals developed their sex much earlier/later than us, which would make their extinction much sooner/later than ours. Given the possible spread of species extinction, it's hard to believe that we're the only species with an impending doom in the next 125K years. Additionally, the vole's sex determination is nothing like our own and is arguably not comparable. Finally, Sykes suggests that a solution to the problem is to do away with men using some form of embryonic fusion for reproduction and he merely passes it off as that simple. Once again, Sykes needs to read up on his most fundamental of genetics. Bacteria permeate virtually every environment on the planet. They reproduce quickly and mutate easily. These two facts allow them to explore lots of adaptations quickly. Without mutation, bacteria (and other non-sentient organisms) couldn't adapt. So, some degree of mutation is required in order to cope with a changing world. Now, if you fuse two eggs, you inherently lose the 'hypermutability' of the y chromosome, thus making the species arguably less adaptable (think of all the times you've heard that women find stronger, more-rugged men more attractive because they seem better able to survive). In addition, you also homogenize the human race. So, much more pressing and as yet uncurable, diseases like cervical/ovarian/breast cancer, TSS, depression, and other women-biased diseases become a species-endangering threat. Not to mention that you're talking about the systematic sterilization/elimination of half the world's current population (statistically speaking, the bigger, and stronger half). Given the obvious bias Sykes has against males and the huge gaps in his theory (just with Darwin's theory alone). It's hard to believe he either a)doesn't have a financially or politically motivated agenda or b)isn't just a skewed, bombastic eccentric. Either way, his assertions don't pass the muster of theories laid down over one hundred years ago. To hold this work up as great scientific work would be a lark. His theories are bad even for science-fiction. I was going to give Sykes two stars for his engaging writing ability but then I remembered he's the head of human genetics at Oxford, so his writing should be good and being the head he should have a more sound theory. One star.
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