Question to Atheists: Male/Female how?

[Muezzin]

So close to lockage...

 

[Chuck]

From what I've seen only one side here seems to be celebrating intolerance.

hilarious :giggling:

 

[KAding]

What a strangely 'aggressive' and unfriendly atmosphere in this thread. Not quite as I have learned to expect on this forum.

Now, as has been widely pointed out, none of us are qualified to answer this question. So the prohibition in the original post to use google surely is the most effective way to prevent any kind of useful information from being brought forward . I mean, for Pete's sake, try reading a bit about this on even the wiki page. I'll quote a bit just for everyone's amusement:

The Viral Eukaryogenesis(VE) theory proposes that eukaryotic cells arose from a combination of a lysogenic virus, an archaeon and a bacterium. This model suggests that the nucleus originated when the lysogenic virus incorporated genetic material from the archaeon and the bacterium and took over the role of information storage for the amalgam. The archaeal host transferred much of its functional genome to the virus during the evolution of cytoplasm but retained the function of gene translation and general metabolism. The bacterium transferred most of its functional genome to the virus as it transitioned into a mitochondrion.[27]

For these transformations to lead to the eukaryotic cell cycle, the VE hypothesis specifies a pox-like virus as the lysogenic virus. A pox-like virus is a likely ancestor because of its fundamental similarities with eukaryotic nuclei. These include a double stranded DNA genome, a linear chromosome with short telomeric repeats, a complex membrane bound capsid, the ability to produce capped mRNA, and the ability to export the capped mRNA across the viral membrane into the cytoplasm. The presence of a lysogenic pox-like virus ancestor explains the development of meiotic division, an essential component of sexual reproduction.[28]

Meiotic division in the VE hypothesis arose because of the evolutionary pressures placed on the lysogenic virus as a result of its inability to enter into the lytic cycle. This selective pressure resulted in the development of processes allowing the viruses to spread horizontally throughout the population. The outcome of this selection was cell-to-cell fusion. (This is distinct from the conjugation methods used by bacterial plasmids under evolutionary pressure, with important consequences.)[27] The possibility of this kind of fusion is supported by the presence of fusion proteins in the envelopes of the pox viruses that allow them to fuse with host membranes. These proteins could have been transferred to the cell membrane during viral reproduction, enabling cell-to-cell fusion between the virus host and an uninfected cell. The theory proposes meiosis originated from the fusion between two cells infected with related but different viruses which recognized each other as uninfected. After the fusion of the two cells, incompatibilities between the two viruses result in a meiotic-like cell division.[28]

The two viruses established in the cell would initiate replication in response to signals from the host cell. A mitosis-like cell cycle would proceed until the viral membranes dissolved, at which point linear chromosomes would be bound together with centromeres. The homologous nature of the two viral centromeres would incite the grouping of both sets into tetrads. It is speculated that this grouping may be the origin of crossing over, characteristic of the first division in modern meiosis. The partitioning apparatus of the mitotic-like cell cycle the cells used to replicate independently would then pull each set of chromosomes to one side of the cell, still bound by centromeres. These centromeres would prevent their replication in subsequent division, resulting in four daughter cells with one copy of one of the two original pox-like viruses. The process resulting from combination of two similar pox viruses within the same host closely mimics meiosis.[28]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm not quite following!

Here is a more down to earth article on the matter:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27927661/

Scientists put sex origin mystery to bed
Wild strawberry research provides evidence on when gender emerges
...
The plants each have two proto-sex chromosomes. Two spots on each proto-sex chromosome contain sex-determining genes, one that controls sterility and fertility in males and another that does the same in females.

Offspring that inherit both fertility versions are hemaphrodites and can self-breed, while plants that inherit one fertility and one sterility version become either male or female. (A female would result from a sterile male and fertile female combination of genes.) Those that get both sterility versions of the genes are considered neuters and can't reproduce, so they ultimately die out.

 

[Hamayun]

What a strangely 'aggressive' and unfriendly atmosphere in this thread. Not quite as I have learned to expect on this forum.

Now, as has been widely pointed out, none of us are qualified to answer this question. So the prohibition in the original post to use google surely is the most effective way to prevent any kind of useful information from being brought forward . I mean, for Pete's sake, try reading a bit about this on even the wiki page. I'll quote a bit just for everyone's amusement:



I don't know about you guys, but I'm not quite following!

Here is a more down to earth article on the matter:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27927661/

Thank you. That was an interesting read. Still hasn't answered my qestions but thanks for sharing anyway