STUDY: DNA of Intil Tws Can Reveal Who's Gay

Contents:

• SCIENTISTS FD DNA DIFFERENC BETWEEN GAY MEN AND THEIR STRAIGHT TW BROTHERS
• YOUR GOOD HEALTH: WHY IS ONE ‘INTIL’ TW GAY, THE OTHER STRAIGHT?
• THE 'GAY GENE' IS A TOTAL MYTH, MASSIVE STUDY CONCLUS
• SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ON ‘GAY GENE’ STUDI
• THE REAL STORY ON GAY GEN
• GAY MEN TW STUDY
• STUDY: DNA OF INTIL TWS CAN REVEAL WHO'S GAY
• LARGT STUDY OF GAY BROTHERS HOM ON 'GAY GEN'
• 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
• NO ‘GAY GENE’: MASSIVE STUDY HOM ON GEIC BASIS OF HUMAN SEXUALY

SCIENTISTS FD DNA DIFFERENC BETWEEN GAY MEN AND THEIR STRAIGHT TW BROTHERS

In a study where scientists looked at the sexual aroal patterns of intil tws wh different sexuali—specifilly, where one was gay and the other was straight—they found that gay tws monstrated more genal aroal rponse to same-sex imag, whereas straight tws monstrated more aroal rponse to oppose-sex imag [2]. Ngun reported that studyg the geic material of 47 pairs of intil male tws, he has intified “epigeic marks” ne areas of the human genome that are strongly lked to male dividuals, said Ngun, the prence of the distct molecular marks n predict homosexualy wh an accuracy of close to 70%. Geicists suggt that together, the human genome and s epigenome reflect the teractn of nature and nurture -- both our fixed herance and our bodi’ flexible rpons to the world -- makg who we ’s study of tws don’t reveal how or when a male tak on the epigenomic marks that distguish him as homosexual.

YOUR GOOD HEALTH: WHY IS ONE ‘INTIL’ TW GAY, THE OTHER STRAIGHT?

”To fd the epigenomic markers of male homosexualy, Ngun, a postdoctoral rearcher at UCLA’s Geffen School of Medice, bed through the geic material of 47 sets of intil male tws. But the existence of tw pairs which one is homosexual and the other is not offers strong evince that somethg other than DNA alone fluenc sexual orientatn. So they unleashed a mache learng algorhm on the data to search for regulari that distguished the epigenom of homosexual tw-pairs om tws which only one was ne pact regns sttered across the genome, they found patterns of epigenomic differenc that would allow a predictn far more accurate than a random gus of an dividual’s sexual orientatn, Ngun reported Thursday.

McCarthy and other experts utned that the disvery of epigenomic marks suggtive of homosexualy is a far cry om fdg the of sexual distctive epigenomic marks observed by Ngun and his lleagu uld rult om some other blogil or liftyle factor mon to homosexual men but unrelated to their sexualy, said Universy of Utah geicist Christopher Gregg.

But the existence of intil tw pairs which only one is homosexual “nclively suggt that gen don’t expla everythg, ” Bailey Ngun’s rearch needs to be replited larger studi of tws, advanc the fful procs of better unrstandg how — and when — a boy’s sexual orientatn velops, Bailey me on Twter @LATMelissaHealy and “like” Los Angel Tim Science & Health on rarely get ncer, now scientists thk they know whyThree rearchers w Nobel Prize chemistry for studi of DNA repairMars had a long-lastg seri of lak, NASA’s Cursy rover fds. Heterosexual men rpond substantially more to femal than mal, and homosexual men rpond substantially more to mal than femal5, 6, 7, 8; th, on average, genal aroal and pupil dilatn patterns verify men’s reported sexual of all sexual orientatns rpond, on average, wh some level of aroal to erotic stimuli reprentg eher sex. The fdg that heterosexual women are non-specific their rpons to mal or femal, whereas homosexual women rpond more to their preferred sex, was nfirmed wh other measur, cludg reactn time, viewg time, nral activy, and thermography of genalia8, 14, 15, the extent that self-reported differenc intil tws’ sexual orientatns are accurate, their sexual rpons will be siar to those of most heterosexual and homosexual dividuals.

THE 'GAY GENE' IS A TOTAL MYTH, MASSIVE STUDY CONCLUS

Hence, male pairs, we predicted that heterosexual tws would show substantially more sexual rpons to the other sex, whereas the homosexual -tws would show more aroal to the same sex. In female pairs, we predicted that heterosexual tws would show siar sexual rpons to both sex, whereas their homosexual -tws would show somewhat stronger sexual rpons to the same sex than the other sex.

Furthermore, if tws’ sexual rpons reflect general sexual orientatn differenc, then their sexual rpons should be siar effect to the rpons seen unrelated heterosexual and homosexual dividuals. RultsSexual Aroal of Male TwsWe predicted that heterosexual male tws show stronger sexual rpons to the other sex, whereas their homosexual -tws rpond more strongly to the same sex. For tws, penncy of data was acunted for by cludg pairs as a random size imageSexual Aroal of Female TwsWe predicted that heterosexual female tws show siar sexual rpons to both sex, but their homosexual -tws rpond more strongly to the same sex.

SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ON ‘GAY GENE’ STUDI

For tws, penncy of data was acunted for by cludg pairs as a random size imageA Comparison of Tws wh Unrelated ParticipantsWe predicted that the difference the tws’ sexual rpons is parable to the difference between unrelated heterosexual and homosexual dividuals. In most s, the 95% nfince tervals of heterosexual and homosexual tws’ average rpons clud the means of the rrpondg heterosexual and homosexual unrelated groups (Figs 1–4). DiscsnThe prent study suggts that intil tws wh disrdant self-reported sexual orientatns differ their patterns of physlogil sexual aroal a manner siar to unrelated heterosexual and homosexual dividuals.

ParticipantsTwsWe advertised for intil tws wh disrdant sexual orientatns via newsletters at UK universi, social media s, onle news s for gay men and lbians, and at three gay Pri ftivals. Unrelated participantsUnrelated participants took part prevly nducted studi and clud 94 heterosexual men, 97 homosexual men, 77 heterosexual women, and 44 homosexual women wh genal aroal data, and 123 heterosexual men, 136 homosexual men, 124 heterosexual women, and 103 homosexual women wh pupil data5, 6, 8, 33, 34.

Heterosexual and homosexual men and women rated the mols on their sexual appeal, and the three hight-rated male and female mols across all rater groups were ed for the 2-mute vios were taken om a nature documentary for asssg basele genal rpons. Studi have shown that intil tws, if one tw is gay (the term “homosexual” is ed clil studi but is nsired offensive, so I won’t e further), then 30 per cent to 66 per cent of the intil tws also will be gay.

THE REAL STORY ON GAY GEN

However, an adopted siblg of a gay person is also more likely to be gay (11 per cent one study), suggtg that the faial environment also plays a signifint role.

Studi have shown that intil tws, if one tw is gay (the term "homosexual" is ed clil studi but is nsired offensive, so I won't e further), then 30 percent to 66 percent of the intil tws also will be gay. However, an adopted siblg of a gay person is also more likely to be gay (11 percent one study), suggtg that the faial environment also plays a signifint role. No dividual gene alone mak a person gay, lbian or bisexual; stead, thoands of gen likely fluence sexual orientatn, a massive new study of the genom of nearly half a ln people human societi and both sex, between 2% and 10% of people report engagg sex wh a member of the same sex, eher exclively or addn to sex wh a member of the oppose sex, the rearchers said.

GAY MEN TW STUDY

Related: 5 Myths About Gay People Debunked"Bee is a ntroversial topic, fundg has historilly been limed and recment of participants was difficult, " study -thor Fah Sathirapongsasuti, a senr scientist and putatnal blogist at the geic ttg pany 23andMe, told Live Science. Heterosexualy as DefltAlthough theorizg origs of both same-sex relatns and other-sex relatns are found Plato’s Symposium, the terms “homosexualy” and “heterosexualy” were first ed 1869— fact, by a journalist—a time when scientific speculatn about same-sex feelgs, behavrs, and attractns flourished.

STUDY: DNA OF INTIL TWS CAN REVEAL WHO'S GAY

When one has a stigmatized inty—and gay inti are still stigmatized today—perhaps a therapist n provi an etlogil narrative that mak sense to the patient.

However, pendg on the therapist’s trag, beliefs, and bias, patients might nceptualize their homosexualy as good (“normal, ” “born gay”), bad (“mental disorr, ” “unfivable s”), or childish and immature (“fantile sexualy, ” “velopmental arrt”). However, speculatn about homosexualy’s origs persists as a culture wars issue a polil battle over whether society should accept gay relatnships on an equal basis wh heterosexual one si are those who believe people are “born gay” (often synonymo wh geilly termed).

LARGT STUDY OF GAY BROTHERS HOM ON 'GAY GEN'

Inevably, differg terpretatns of the new geic study appeared The Advote, Dean Hamer, thor of a landmark 1993 “gay gene” study, remarked, “It’s easy to nfe ‘no sgle gay gene’ wh ‘no geic fluence, ’ which short orr will be misterpreted as ‘’s a choice. ”In ntrast, the Catholic News Agency quoted a theologian sayg, “This is simply irrelevant to the analysis of the moral goodns or evil of homosexual acts, and of the orred or disorred character of the homosexual tenncy or disposn. ”In the culture wars, each si gleans om science what will, makg unlikely that scientific fdgs alone will ci when society will treat gay people as full cizens.

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

Still others, backg the same e, disurage any vtigatn to the blogil origs of sexual orientatn, fearful that posive rults will lead to attempts to rid the world of potential homosexuals. For them, the disvery of how an dividual be gay is likely to shed light on how sexualy-related gen build bras, how people of any persuasn are attracted to each other, and perhaps even how homosexualy evolved. Hamer had jt published a study that claimed not only to have fally proved that male homosexualy was at least partially geic but also to have ppoted the stretch of chromosome where one of the gen volved rid.

Hamer and his lleagu nducted extensive terviews wh 76 pairs of gay brothers and their fay members and found that homosexualy seemed to be hered through the maternal le. Yet Hamer ntends that his rults suggt there is a lk to Xq28 and that the Rice study was biased bee one of the thors told Hamer that he didn’t believe a gay gene uld exist.

NO ‘GAY GENE’: MASSIVE STUDY HOM ON GEIC BASIS OF HUMAN SEXUALY

Whether or not a gay gene, a set of gay gen, or some other blogil mechanism is ever found, one thg is clear: The environment a child grows up has nothg to do wh what mak most gay men gay.

Ially, Bocklandt would sn the genome of each dividual, lookg for a methylatn pattern anywhere on any chromosome that shows up repeatedly the gay member of each tw pair. Alan Sanrs, an associate profsor of psychiatry at Northwtern, will be lookg at the whole genome of about 1, 000 gay brothers g the geic marker technique that Hamer ed.

By settg up a stand at Gay Pri paras and approachg “gay iendly” groups like PFLAG (Parents, Fai and Friends of Lbians and Gays), Sanrs has found more than 4, 000 gay men wh a brother who are terted participatg. Even if social prsur through the ag led some gay men to have some children, the signifintly lower rate of reproductn would eventually lead to the disappearance of the gene (as Hamer do note his book, The Science of Dire: The Search for the Gay Gene and the Blogy of Behavr). ) The creased number of grandchildren that a parent might have through such a superfertile dghter would offset whatever loss of geic postery om havg a gay son.