Being gay is a genetic mutation

A study linked sexual preference to a gene called fucose mutarotase. In a issue of Science magazinegeneticist Andrea Ganna at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and colleagues, described the largest survey to date for genes associated with same-sex behavior.

In rats, manipulation of hormones during pregnancy produces offspring that exhibit homosexual behavior. Such behaviors emerge from constellations of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of genes, and how they are regulated by the environment. When the gene was deleted in female mice, they were attracted to female odors and preferred to mount females rather than males.

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As the ease and affordability of genome sequencing increased, additional gene candidates have emerged with potential links to homosexual behavior. There is no single gene responsible for a person being gay or a lesbian.

Those genetic tweaks don’t predict who is likely to be gay. The new finding is consistent with multiple earlier studies of twins that indicated same-sex attraction is a heritable trait. That’s the first thing you need to know about the largest genetic investigation of sexuality ever, which was published.

Males with a genetic condition called can develop female genitalia and are usually brought up as girls, despite being genetically male – with an X and Y chromosome – and they are attracted to men. Other studies have shown that disruption of a gene called TRPC2 can cause female mice to act like males.

Expressed in the brain, TRPC2 functions in the recognition of pheromones, chemicals that are released by one member of a species to elicit a response in another. Sexual orientation is shaped in prenatal development, but science shows that there are not only many ways of becoming gay but also many ways of being gay.

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However, biologists have documented homosexual behavior in more than speciesarguing that same-sex behavior is not an unnatural choice, and may in fact play a vital role within populations. Similarly, girls who have a genetic condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia are exposed to unusually high levels of male hormones like testosterone while in the womb, which may masculinize their brain and increase the odds of lesbianism.

In the U. Despite these numbers, many people still consider homosexual behavior to be an anomalous choice. So-called genome-wide association studies identified a gene called SLITRK6which is active in a brain region called the diencephalon that differs in size between people who are homosexual or heterosexual.

Males with a genetic condition called androgen insensitivity syndrome can develop female genitalia and are usually brought up as girls, despite being genetically male — with an X and Y chromosome — and they are attracted to men. As with other complex behaviors, it is not possible to predict sexuality by gazing into a DNA sequence as if it were a crystal ball.

By analyzing the DNA of nearly half a million people from the U. Numerous studies have established that sex is not just male or female. Nonetheless, misconceptions persist that same-sex attraction is a choice that warrants condemnation or conversionand leads to discrimination and persecution.

“GAY GENES” New research has uncovered DNA differences linked to same-sex sexuality in both men and women. Sexual behavior is widely diverse and governed by sophisticated mechanisms throughout the animal kingdom. Male mice lacking TRPC2 no longer display male-male aggression, and they initiate sexual behaviors toward both males and females.

I am a molecular biologist and am interested in this new study as it further illuminates the genetic contribution to human behavior. Bill Sullivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

svetikd/ A massive study of half a million people finds no single gene behind sexual orientation, adding more evidence that there is no “gay gene”. Genetic studies in mice have uncovered additional gene candidates that could influence sexual preference. This idea is further supported by the new studywhich identified five new genetic loci fixed positions on chromosomes correlating with same-sex activity: two that appeared in men and women, two only in men, and one only in women.

Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain how homosexuality can be beneficial in perpetuating familial genes.