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Re:Why Sex? Biologists Find New Explanations by nootropicat on Friday April 24, 2020 @08:52AM (#22967407)
The Y chromosome only codes for 55 genes, while the X chromosome codes for 900 genes [1]. The Y chromosome self-evidently doesn't contain genes necessary for basic survival, because females don't have it. Males have only one X chromosome. Each cell in a human female has one X chromosome fully active and another one partially active [2], which means their phenotype, as far at it depends on the X chromosome, has lower variance because of partial averaging.

[1] https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Y-Chromoso...

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4696107/

Re:Why Sex? Biologists Find New Explanations by dogma1138 on Friday April 24, 2020 @09:12AM (#22967572)
This isn’t about sex chromosomes, we have 1000’s of genes that are sex-biased this means that their expression is dependent on sex.

The level of bias isn’t even solely dependent on the gene in question but on much more complex mechanisms that are frankly not well understood for example in humans testicles and mammary glands have some of the highest levels of sex biased expression in of all tissues. Other tissues like brain, heart and muscles also have variance but to overall lower levels (higher brain tissue expression variance in males for example has been linked to higher likelihood of schizophrenia and other mental conditions).

Overall males it seems that there is a higher variances of sex biased gene expression in various tissues compared to females.

This means that it goes beyond we have a backup X chromosome and gene deactivation escape mechanisms.

Gene expression variance can explain why males might a higher overall variance in traits.

Re:Why Sex? Biologists Find New Explanations by nootropicat on Friday April 24, 2020 @09:59AM (#22968000)
The existence of those mechanisms doesn't mean the increased variance from only one X chromosome disappears - for males to have equal variance the increase from just one X would have to be compensated somehow, which is probably impossible given how directly important X is - the needed information is gone.
Re:Why Sex? Biologists Find New Explanations by dogma1138 on Saturday April 25, 2020 @06:11AM (#22977064)
What I’m saying is that genetic variance and gene expression variance aren’t the same thing.

In fact in males there is a phenomenon that is called feminization of gene expression where by removing sexual competition causes gene feminization in males causing the population to more favorably express female bias.

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms4482

I can’t find the study now but similar results have been reported in humans especially in sperm and testicular tissue that begin experiencing gene expression feminization rather quickly in monogamous relationships.

Re:Why Sex? Biologists Find New Explanations by microcolonel on Friday April 24, 2020 @09:02AM (#22967478)
Colour vision being the classic example of something preserved or enhanced in females due to coding on the X chromosome. This helps women, for the most part, completely avoid red-green colourblindness.

Coincidentally when searching to make sure I wasn't saying this the wrong way around, I was presented with this weird sexist propaganda[0] that only works because of the weird way people tend to think about these facts: you only acknowledge it if you can make it sound like women are better at everything and make no tradeoffs.

[0]: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/19/the-better-hal...

Re:Why Sex? Biologists Find New Explanations by SamReidHughes on Friday April 24, 2020 @11:59AM (#22969435)
Greater male variance in humans has nothing to do with the article, or general discussion about the evolutionary benefits of sexual reproduction, because what's true of some categories of animal, like mammals, is not true of birds and other animals (whose sex chromosomes work differently -- female birds have greater variance, last I checked).
Re:Why Sex? Biologists Find New Explanations by microcolonel on Friday April 24, 2020 @12:04PM (#22969519)
> Greater male variance in humans has nothing to do with ... the the evolutionary benefits of sexual reproduction

https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.04184

Re:Why Sex? Biologists Find New Explanations by SamReidHughes on Friday April 24, 2020 @12:14PM (#22969669)
Okay, but it's not male-specific.