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David Page examines the Y chromosome's architectural beauty, evolutionary dynamism, and critical role in male infertility.

Over the last few decades, the male-specific Y chromosome, the runt of the genomic litter, has been diagnosed as terminally ill. Some scientists declared that in another 10 million years or so the Y will be gone altogether, taking males along with it. But the Y has proven far more resilient than expected. Although it is not paired with another chromosome with which it can correct genetic defects, Whitehead Institute researchers and others have found that the Y has a unique and astonishing capacity to repair itself.