*** Forwarded message, originally written by Steven Cornett on 02-Sep-92 ***
On 22-Oct-98, Nick Mcbile wrote:

Of course this would cause human kind to go extinked soon due to the 
increadible genetic drift it would cause and lack of Darwin's law. In 
male/Female reproduction thousands of sperm compeate for survival, this 
also leads to greater adaptability, The trait that makes you the 
dominate species on this earth. Take that away and you will die out and 
be replaced.

   If by Darwin's Law you mean that competition ensures the survival of
species best adapted to their enviroment, that would most surely continue
in any case.  Afterall, when a woman chooses a husband, she's not choosing
sperm, she's choosing the man!
   In a post W gene world, that competition would still continue.  Now
woman would choose the woman (or man) with the same criteria: most 
alluring, most healthy, richest (!), most athletic, best on the catwalk!
   Speaking of genetic drift, one should note that while a fertilized 
egg with XX can swap genetic code to correct error and reduce drift, 
a male egg can't.  If it could, you would end up loosing the Y 
choromosome to error correction.  As it is, scientists speculate that
we may eventually lose the Y chromosome anyway due to genetic drift.
(i.e. errors get on the Y chromosome and cannot be corrected, thus
resulting in genetic disease.  That's why most inherited illnesses
are sex related: most genetic defects manifest only in males).
   Having XXW children as the majority would tend to slow down
genetic drift by allowing the majority of eggs to use both
strands of genetic material to correct errors.


Steven P. Cornett
cornetts@gemair.com