Adam’s Curse: A Future without Men by Brian Sykes. W.W. Norton, $25.95, 318 pages.

The News & Observer

September 26, 2004

Why men are living on borrowed time


By PHILLIP MANNING

What’s short, malformed, and the essence of manhood? It’s the Y chromosome, of course, that oddball snippet of DNA found in almost every cell of the male body. Women do not carry this chromosome; it is passed from father to son, untouched by the sexual mixing that occurs with other chromosomes. This peculiarity allows scientists to use its molecular signature to determine if a group of men have a common ancestor. For example, if you and I have identical (or very similar) Y chromosomes, it is likely that we are descended from the same patriarch. By combining that knowledge with standard genealogical methods (a discipline known as molecular anthropology), that ancient ancestor we share can sometimes be found.

Brian Sykes, a professor of genetics at Oxford University, uses this technique to track down the common ancestors of several groups of men in “Adam’s Curse.” Sykes, whose previous book “The Seven Daughters of Eve” traced the origin of modern European women back to seven Ice Age “clan mothers,” now advances some highly provocative theories about the fate of men and the nature of male-female relationships. However, “Adam’s Curse” demands our attention less for Sykes’s ideas than his methods. The distinguished professor demonstrates a dangerous lack of scientific rigor that, sad to say, is symptomatic of the willingness of some writers to pronounce half-baked theories as they try to popularize science for lay readers. The public relies on science for everything from treating cancer to exploring Mars. To maintain that trust, science writers should clearly distinguish science from speculation, which Sykes — who must know better — doesn’t do often enough.

Sykes begins by tracing a few family trees, looking for the common father shared by selected clusters of men. He traces many Scottish clans back to a powerful 12th century warlord named Somerled. He also considers a Y chromosome signature common in Mongolia that he believes originated with Genghis Khan. His conclusions are a bit speculative; no one knows the DNA sequence in the Y chromosome of Somerled or Genghis Khan. But these ruminations are rock solid compared to the inferences he draws from them.

The widespread Y chromosomes attributed to Somerled and Genghis Kahn lead Sykes to consider why these chromosomes have been successful in reproducing themselves. They were, he writes, the Y chromosomes of “individuals with vast power and wealth obtained through violence and conquest.” Sykes uses this proposition as a springboard to advance a theory linking the Y chromosome, the rise of agriculture, and “female coercion.”

The gradual replacement of hunter-gatherer societies by agricultural-based cultures about 10,000 years ago, he argues, made property and wealth the basis of power (as opposed to brute strength). “It was, in my view, men and through them the Y-chromosome,” Sykes writes, “that seized on this trio of property, wealth and power and pushed them to their present absolute prominence.” That is, men used property, wealth, and power to control women. Of course, this assumes that men did not have the upper hand in hunter-gatherer societies, a proposition that seems doubtful.

Sykes continues his speculations with language even more inflammatory and less supported by the meager data. “Forced by the relentless ambition of the Y-chromosome to reproduce itself,” he writes, “women were reduced to a state of serial pregnancy, increasingly enslaved by dependence on men.” To attribute “relentless ambition” to the Y chromosome is the sort of anthropomorphism popularized by Richard Dawkins in his book “The Selfish Gene.” But the Y chromosome is merely a chain of atoms bound together in a long molecule, and to speak of it as having “relentless ambition” is as goofy as saying a string’s ambition is to become a rope.

Furthermore, Sykes offers no insights into why some Y chromosomes are more successful than others. How did the great Kahn’s Y chromosome make him a successful reproducer? How did it enable him to acquire property, wealth, and power? Sykes gives no answers. And, besides, power is not the only tool men wield to attract women. My guess is that handsome minstrels, wandering the countryside, making merry, were pretty good at spreading their seed, too.

After blaming the Y chromosome for he enslavement of women, Sykes argues that its desire to reproduce itself by having its carriers — men — breed with more and more women is destroying the planet. Global warming, pollution, deforestation, and the accelerating extinction of other species are caused by “The runaway train of sexual selection ... with the blind Y-chromosome in the driving seat. Unless something happens it will leave our beautiful planet not just dying but dead.” To predict this dismal fate for Earth after examining a few segments of DNA and a few genealogical records is, at best, a stretch. At worst, it is silly.

But “Adam’s Curse” is not just a work of popular science, it’s a morality play. Sykes asserts that the very chromosome which has put men on top will destroy them. The Y chromosome, aka Adam’s curse, is decaying, that is the number of genes it carries is decreasing. “One by one Y-chromosomes will disappear until eventually only one remains. When that chromosome finally succumbs, men will become extinct.” Unfortunately, we power-grabbing, Earth-destroying brutes are needed for at least one thing, and without us, you can kiss the entire species goodbye. When? Making a series of highly questionable assumptions, Sykes figures the human race will vanish in about 125,000 years.

So there we have it: A ruthless Y chromosome, sexual selection that favors tyrants, the end of man and a lifeless Earth. It does make a good tale. However, it’s less science than science fiction. Most writers are well aware that interesting narratives sell better than dry expository books. But in trying to entertain his readers, Brian Sykes seems to have forgotten that in this genre the word that follows “popular” is “science.”
####