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Homosexuality Gene May Predict Sexual Orientation of Men

W!nston

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Homosexuality Gene May Predict Sexual Orientation of Men
USNews | By Randy Dotinga | Oct. 8, 2015 | 4:00 p.m. EDT

Gay%20Gene%20Found.jpg

THURSDAY, Oct. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists are reporting that they've linked the way genes in certain regions of the human genome work to influence sexual orientation in males.

The findings don't explain how such variations in the workings of these genetic regions might affect sexuality in one or both genders. But the authors of the new study say they've been able to use this information to successfully predict the sexual orientation of male identical twins 70 percent of the time, compared to the 50 percent that would be expected by chance.

Twins have the same genes, so something else -- such as the way genes operate -- may explain those who don't have the same sexual orientation, the authors suggested.

"Sexual orientation seems to be determined very early in life," said study lead author Tuck Ngun, a postdoctoral researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine of the University of California, Los Angeles. "Based on these findings, we can say that environmental factors might play a role in sexual orientation."

But he doesn't mean the social environment in which we grow up, such as how we're treated by our parents.

"Instead, we are referring to differences that the twins could have experienced in the womb," Ngun explained.

Several past studies have linked sexual orientation to specific genetic regions, "but what's still a mystery is the specific genes that are involved," Ngun said. "Sexual attraction is a fundamental drive across all species but it is something that is poorly understood on the genetic level, particularly in humans."

In the new study, researchers sought to better understand the links between how genes work -- not just the existence of certain genes or genetic variations -- and sexual orientation.

The investigators looked at identical twins because they share the same DNA. However, genes are also affected by the environment each twin experiences, so they're not clones of each other in terms of how their bodies work, according to the researchers.

The researchers began with information on 140,000 genetic regions and narrowed them down to five regions that appear to have the ability to predict -- 70 percent of the time -- whether an identical male twin is gay or straight based on how genes in those regions work or "express" themselves.

The researchers reached that level of accuracy by seeing if they could predict sexual orientation in 10 pairs of male gay twins and 37 male pairs in which one twin is gay and the other is straight, the study said.

"We weren't expecting 100 percent since we are only looking at a small part of the overall picture," Ngun said.

The genetic regions in question play various roles in the body, Ngun explained, including affecting sexual attraction.

Qazi Rahman, a senior lecturer in cognitive neuropsychology at King's College London in the United Kingdom, who studies sexual orientation, praised the study. While it's small, the study's design is strong, he said.

Rahman added that the study "tells us something about possible environmental differences -- albeit biological differences in the environment -- which might explain the sexual orientation of men who share the same genome."

Some people in the LGBT community have expressed concern about research into the biological roots of sexual orientation because they fear it could be used to target gays and even abort fetuses who seem likely to not be heterosexual. "I am gay, so these questions have a lot of resonance with me on a personal level," study lead author Ngun said.

"I do think we have to tread carefully because the potential for abuse is there. Although I think it's highly unlikely that the findings of this particular research study would lead to a genetic test, future research could ultimately lead to something like that," he added.

Society is going to have to work together, Ngun suggested, "to ensure research on sexual orientation is not misused."

The study is scheduled to be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in Baltimore. Research presented at meetings hasn't yet undergone peer review, and is generally considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

SOURCE

There is great risk inherent in this field of study but it also has merits. Scary stuff. What do you think?
 

gb2000ie

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I think it's interesting to see the shift from finding "the gay Gene" to looking at the combination of genes + environment.

The average person on the street sees Genes are baked in, but life actives and de-actives genes, so they are anything but static. Also, that's why identical twins are not actually the same in reality at a genetic level.

Finding the origins of sexual orientation doesn't actually change anything. Gay people exist, are real, and deserve rights. How the mechanics work are utterly beside the point.

B.
 
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skyward

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Well if technology is developed that would tell an expectant mother that the child is gay, or even that there is a higher-than-normal chance that the child will be gay, what proportion of mothers would have an abortion?

I would suspect it would not be as high a proportion as for other issues. However consider in the long-term a possible feedback effect: 40% proportion aborting => less gay people being born => gay people become an even smaller minority and experience greater hardship socially => the proportion aborting increases in light of this => gay minority shrinks even further... and so on.

This would take several generations to play out.

Another possibility is that one a genetic cause (or even just factor) is identified it raises the question of can intervention occur, i.e. genetic modification.

Yet another possibility is could the tests be carried out later, i.e. on an infant or child. Imagining back to when I was a child I would hate to think of being tested and 'outed' in this way. :/ What about a child's right to privacy?

I think in relation to sexuality orientation it should be the person's own choice whether or not to reveal it, or who they reveal it to. So to contain the abusive potential of this kind of technology you could emphasis he right to privacy. Even the unborn would have to have a right to the same privacy -otherwise what would be the point... once you're orientation is identified your privacy is breached permanently -doesn't matter at what stage it occurs, whether in the womb, 3yrs, or 11yrs.

Suddenly I have an image in my mind of some whacky pastor of the future in Texas holding up a leaflet for a genetic modification clinic up into the air and shouting 'the cure... the cure!':rofl:

You think it couldn't happen? That massive funds could not be raised to fund such a cure if it becomes a realistic possibility?......



Think again! :rofl:
 

gb2000ie

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Well if technology is developed that would tell an expectant mother that the child is gay, or even that there is a higher-than-normal chance that the child will be gay, what proportion of mothers would have an abortion?

But remember, the scientists are finding that it is NOT just a simple "do you have this gene or not", but that it is a combination of genetics AND environment. That makes a test at the stage when an abortion is a viable option impossible - at that stage there hasn't been sufficient 'environment' for the test to show anything other than perhaps potential.

For as long as I have been following science, the trend has been towards the possible origins of sexuality being every more complex, and ever harder to determine accurately.

First, the assumption was that there would be a single gay gene - that now seems exceptionally unlikely. Then the search was for a cluster of gay genes, that too didn't go very far. Now we have a cluster of genes that when combined with environmental factors gives a determination that' a little better than a guess, but not that much.

Based on the science to date, I'm not convinced there will ever be a reliable pre-natal sexuality test, because it doesn't seem sexuality has been defined yet at that stage of a human's development.

Another possibility is that one a genetic cause (or even just factor) is identified it raises the question of can intervention occur, i.e. genetic modification.

Some quack may well come up with this some time, but if the trajectory of gay rights continues for just a few more decades, that quack will get no traction.

Yet another possibility is could the tests be carried out later, i.e. on an infant or child. Imagining back to when I was a child I would hate to think of being tested and 'outed' in this way. :/ What about a child's right to privacy?

That question is one we are already dealing with now, because there are genetic markers for serious illnesses, and we have decided that it is illegal for insurance companies or employers to ask you for your genome for the purpose of determining your change of heart disease etc..

I think we are on a trajectory where the right to privacy will be respected. If not, the bigger fight will be over disease and aptitude (your genes say you are not intelligent enough to be a surgeon etc.) more than sexuality.

I think in relation to sexuality orientation it should be the person's own choice whether or not to reveal it, or who they reveal it to. So to contain the abusive potential of this kind of technology you could emphasis he right to privacy. Even the unborn would have to have a right to the same privacy -otherwise what would be the point... once you're orientation is identified your privacy is breached permanently -doesn't matter at what stage it occurs, whether in the womb, 3yrs, or 11yrs.

Agreed.

Suddenly I have an image in my mind of some whacky pastor of the future in Texas holding up a leaflet for a genetic modification clinic up into the air and shouting 'the cure... the cure!':rofl:

It could happen, the question is how will people respond. Will the response be like that of New Jersy to the gay conversion quacks (ban), or will women rush for the treatment. I think the further in the future this hypothetical quack shows up, the greater the change he'll be laughed off the stage.

B.
 
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