Gay geics - BBC Science Foc Magaze

Contents:

• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• WHAT DO THE NEW ‘GAY GEN’ TELL ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN?
• SCIENTISTS QUASH IA OF SGLE 'GAY GENE'
• THE GAY GENE: NEW EVINCE SUPPORTS AN OLD HYPOTHIS
• GAY GEICSMOST OF BELIEVE THAT WE WERE BORN THAT WAY, BUT IS SEXUAL ORIENTATN OUR DNA? JV CHAMARY GO SEARCH OF THE GAY GENEJV CHAMARYPUBLISHED: MAY 31, 2009 AT 11:00 PMGAY GEICS
• THE REAL STORY ON GAY GEN

WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?

Your gen terme your sexual orientatn, study suggtsA NEW study parg the DNA of homosexual and heterosexual men uld prove that sexual orientatn is rooted a person’s HAS long been bated whether sexual orientatn is a rult of a person’s blogy or is termed by environmental factors and outsi fluenc. Rearch unrtaken by North Shore Universy Illois claims to have disvered geic markers that dite whether or not a person is gay. Scientists pared the whole genom of around 1000 homosexual men and 1200 heterosexual men and found there were two specific DNA regns that differed between the of the regns alt wh a gene that plays an important role bra velopment and hormone productn, which uld also be lked to a person’s sexual other gene is lked to thyroid functn, which is an area prevly been lked wh sexual orientatn, acrdg to the thors of the some geic differenc were found the areas, the rearchers have utned that the rults are “bt scribed as speculative”, but still leave rearchers a step closer to unrstandg how sexual preferenc velop.

“As this study was rried out European men, we do not know whether the fdgs will apply to homosexualy women, or even to homosexualy non-European men. “All that is required to see a geic associatn this study is for slightly more homosexual men to rry the geic variant than heterosexual men, and many tim this will simply be due to chance.

In other words, 5-10% of people experience same-sex sexual attractn or behavr; of urse, this don't speak to what mak people gay. It very much appears that same-sex sexual attractn is not a choice but actg on is; so if you fe gay as the mere prence of same-sex attractn, then om everythg we unrstand, beg gay is not a choice.

WHAT DO THE NEW ‘GAY GEN’ TELL ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN?

If, on the other hand, you nsir someone to be gay only if they act on their same-sex attractn then beg gay n be nsired a choice pendg on an dividual's behavr.

SCIENTISTS QUASH IA OF SGLE 'GAY GENE'

Whether science n ultimately prove the blogy of beg gay or not, 's important to support all adults their choic no matter how they intify.

We have known for s that sexual orientatn is partly herable men, thanks to studi of fai which some people are straight and some people are gay.

THE GAY GENE: NEW EVINCE SUPPORTS AN OLD HYPOTHIS

In 1993, geic variatns a regn on the X chromosome men were lked to whether they were heterosexual or homosexual, and 1995, a regn on chromosome 8 was intified. Grave’s disease is more mon gay than straight men, and some rearch suggts that gay men tend to be thner – which might possibly be a rult of thyroid overdrive.

There have been studi suggtg that there is a geic element to homosexualy women, but more rearch has been done men, says Sanrs. The latt fdgs open the prospect to intifyg the whole pathway of gen volved both homosexual and heterosexual orientatn, says Dean Hamer at the US Natnal Instut of Health, who led the study that ppoted chromosome X back 1993.

However, blogists have documented homosexual behavr more than 450 speci, argug that same-sex behavr is not an unnatural choice, and may fact play a val role wh populatns. The 2019 study is the latt a hunt for “gay gen” that began 1993, when Dean Hamer lked male homosexualy to a sectn of the X chromosome. As the ease and affordabily of genome sequencg creased, addnal gene ndidat have emerged wh potential lks to homosexual behavr.

GAY GEICSMOST OF BELIEVE THAT WE WERE BORN THAT WAY, BUT IS SEXUAL ORIENTATN OUR DNA? JV CHAMARY GO SEARCH OF THE GAY GENEJV CHAMARYPUBLISHED: MAY 31, 2009 AT 11:00 PMGAY GEICS

So-lled genome-wi associatn studi intified a gene lled SLITRK6, which is active a bra regn lled the diencephalon that differs size between people who are homosexual or heterosexual.

” For example, certa gen women help crease their fertily, but if the gen are exprsed a male, they predispose him toward homosexualy. While there is no sgle “gay gene, ” there is overwhelmg evince of a blogil basis for sexual orientatn that is programmed to the bra before birth based on a mix of geics and prenatal ndns, none of which the fet choos. A vast new study has quashed the ia that a sgle “gay gene” exists, scientists say, stead fdg homosexual behavur is fluenced by a multu of geic variants which each have a ty rearchers pare the suatn to factors termg a person’s height, which multiple geic and environmental factors play rol.

“The rults suggt we shouldn’t be measurg sexual preference on a sgle ntuum om straight to gay, but rather two separate dimensns: attractn to the same sex and attractn to the oppose sex.

THE REAL STORY ON GAY GEN

It also relied on self-reported ia that geics might play a role same-sex attractn was propelled to the spotlight 1993 when Dean Hamer, a scientist at the US Natnal Cancer Instute, and his team found lks between DNA markers on the X chromosome and male sexual fdgs ed nsirable ntroversy, wh the media dubbg the disvery the “gay gene”. After all, you would expect that homosexuals would have fewer children than heterosexuals, so that any geic e of homosexualy would have been selected out of the gene pool a long time ago. The mothers and maternal nts of gay men have “creased fecundy pared wh rrpondg maternal female relativ of heterosexual men, ” the thors of the study wre.