Two gene variants have been found to be more mon gay men. New Scientist looks at what this tells about the way blogy shap our sexualy
Contents:
- SEARCH FOR 'GAY GEN' COM UP SHORT IN LARGE NEW STUDY
- IS THERE A "GAY GENE"? MAJOR NEW STUDY SAYS NO
- THERE’S NO EVINCE THAT A SGLE ‘GAY GENE’ EXISTS
- WHAT DO THE NEW ‘GAY GEN’ TELL ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN?
- THERE’S NO ONE ‘GAY GENE,’ BUT GEICS ARE LKED TO SAME-SEX BEHAVR, NEW STUDY SAYS
- WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
- THE 'GAY GENE' IS A TOTAL MYTH, MASSIVE STUDY CONCLUS
SEARCH FOR 'GAY GEN' COM UP SHORT IN LARGE NEW STUDY
* it there a gay gene *
The largt study1 to date on the geic basis of sexualy has revealed five spots on the human genome that are lked to same-sex sexual behavur — but none of the markers are reliable enough to predict someone’s sexualy.The fdgs, which are published on 29 Augt Science and based on the genom of nearly 500,000 people, shore up the rults of earlier, smaller studi and nfirm the spicns of many scientists: while sexual preferenc have a geic ponent, no sgle gene has a large effect on sexual behavurs.“There is no ‘gay gene’,” says lead study thor Andrea Ganna, a geicist at the Broad Instute of MIT and Harvard Cambridge, Massachetts.Ganna and his lleagu also ed the analysis to timate that up to 25% of sexual behavur n be explaed by geics, wh the rt fluenced by environmental and cultural factors — a figure siar to the fdgs of smaller studi.“This is a solid study,” says Melda Mills, a soclogist at the Universy of Oxford, UK, who studi the geic basis of reproductive behavurs.But she utns that the rults may not be reprentative of the overall populatn — a limatn that the study thors acknowledge. In an terview, she said the study is further evince that prev reports of a "gay gene" on the X chromosome are wrong.
IS THERE A "GAY GENE"? MAJOR NEW STUDY SAYS NO
And bee the rearchers didn't fd gene variants that rrelated wh a gradient of sexual behavr, she says, unrcuts Aled Ksey's s-old sle, which ranked people on a spectm of sexualy, om exclively heterosexual to exclively homosexual.
New study fds there is no "gay" gene. There's no such thg as a sgle "gay gene" that driv a person's sexual behavr, nclus the largt geic study ever nducted on the issue.
THERE’S NO EVINCE THAT A SGLE ‘GAY GENE’ EXISTS
"That should also support the posn that we shouldn't try and velop gay cur. "This new study provis even more evince that that beg gay or lbian is a natural part of human life, a ncln that has been drawn by rearchers and scientists time and aga, " said GLAAD Chief Programs Officer Zeke Stok. This new rearch also renfirms the long-tablished unrstandg that there is no nclive gree to which nature or nurture fluence how a gay or lbian person behav.
"This reflects voic om the LGBTQ+ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer+) muny argug that a range of sexuali exist, " Mills wrote.
WHAT DO THE NEW ‘GAY GEN’ TELL ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN?
Do matter if there is a geic tenncy for beg gay? Those who nsir beg gay a disadvantage life (which still is, certa societi), might regard gay people differently if they knew that beg gay was an hered tra, rather than a nsequence of life events, such as a particular type of upbrgg, or mixg wh certa sorts of iends or even a liberate cisn.
The law also might take a different view those untri (aga, there are still many) which beg gay is a crimal offense. An early study claimed that if one pair of (male) intil tws (who have intil geic patterns) was gay, there was a 100 percent chance of the other one also beg gay. It was quickly shown that, fact, the real chance of two intil tws beg gay was around 40-50 percent, whereas was ls non-intil on, though still somewhat greater than the general populatn.
THERE’S NO ONE ‘GAY GENE,’ BUT GEICS ARE LKED TO SAME-SEX BEHAVR, NEW STUDY SAYS
A dramatic claim was that there was a sgle geic variatn, the "gay gene, " that was found gay men. Alas, like so many other early reports of a "gay gene, " this one uld not be repeated.
There was another, much smaller, group who said they were entirely gay (about 6 percent), and a stterg of even smaller numbers who claimed to be bisexual. Firstly, they found very few gen whose variatns were rrelated wh beg gay, or even havg a sgle same-sex partner. Overall, geic variatns acunted for only around 1 percent of the likelihood of beg gay.
WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
But as stands, there’s no sign of a "gay gene.
THE 'GAY GENE' IS A TOTAL MYTH, MASSIVE STUDY CONCLUS
And beg gay creased the chance of dg e, socially risky behavur and smokg. What term whether someone will be straight or gay, or somewhere between?
The plex and variable psychologil state that we label as "gay" will have equally plex termants.
the rol of gen homosexual behavr is fanng the bate over whether. beg gay is due to gen or environment. “There is no ‘gay gene’ that term.