Y-chromosome Adam : Mitochondrial Eve - Greg Egan

In the cell divisions leading up to sperm production, most of the DNA of the Y chromosome underwent recombination with the X chromosome -- but part of it remained aloof, unscrambled, passed down the purely paternal line with the same fidelity as mitochondrial DNA passed from mother to daughter. In fact, with more fidelity: mutations in nuclear DNA were much less frequent, which made it a much less useful molecular clock.


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