Transcript Is there a gay gene?

Chad, Jeremiah, and Daysha
Stereotypes of a gay man
• Attracted to the color green.
• Hair that whorls in a counter clockwise direction.
• Have good style and like shopping.
• Likely left-handed
• Usually the youngest sibling of older brothers.
Intro to the Gay gene
•
Homosexuality and the rights of homosexuals are big issues in our society today. A
scientific ‘breakthrough’ that proved the genetic predetermination of
homosexuality would change society drastically. If science were able to ‘prove’ that
sexual orientation was caused at the genetic level, discrimination against
homosexuals must necessarily be viewed as unjust.
•
On the other side of the coin, if sexual orientation could be determined in the
fetus, in the future parents might elect to insert a heterosexual gene into their
child or abort the child altogether. Although this grizzly scenario isn’t probable in
the near future, it is not totally out of the realm of possibility – assuming a gene
for homosexuality is found.
•
Over the years (from 1991 to the present) the story of the so-called ‘gay gene’ is
one indicative of scientific experiments and conclusions molding themselves into
media forces that then seem to have a life of their own. This website will attempt
to explore this media/science clash chronologically, discussing the rise and fall of
the ‘gay gene’ and the strong feelings that surround it.
Search for Gay genes
• In the study, researchers analyzed the genetic makeup of
456 men from 146 families with two or more gay brothers.
• The genetic scans showed a clustering of the same genetic
pattern among the gay men on three chromosomes -chromosomes 7, 8, and 10. These common genetic patterns
were shared by 60% of the gay men in the study. This is
slightly more than the 50% expected by chance alone.
• The regions on chromosome 7 and 8 were associated with
male sexual orientation regardless of whether the man got
them from his mother or father. The regions on
chromosome 10 were only associated with male sexual
orientation if they were inherited from the mother.
Biology
• Sexual antagonistic traits are those that are beneficial
in one sex, but may cause homosexuality in another.
• Heterosexual men have Interstitial Nuclei of the
Anterior Hypothalamus (INAH) being twice the size of a
females and homosexual men's INAH being the same
size as a females.
• As a fetus, homosexuals experience increased amounts
of androgens in the womb. Those androgens increase
your desire for sex.
Passed down
• Female relatives of the gay men
will have a higher fertility.
• Homosexuality is considered a
“normal variant” (like being lefthanded), rather than a disease.
• Its said that homosexuality is
born within you and influenced
by the environment, like your
personality.
The real story
• Some conservatives argue that homosexuality is a personal
choice or the result of environmental influences. Some gay
rights activists insist that homosexuality is genetic, hoping
that proof from that domain will lead to greater
acceptance.
• Still others, backing the same cause, discourage any
investigation into the biological origins of sexual
orientation, fearful that positive results will lead to
attempts to rid the world of potential homosexuals.
• A handful of scientists, though, are just curious. For them,
the discovery of how an individual becomes gay is likely to
shed light on how sexuality-related genes build brains, how
people of any persuasion are attracted to each other, and
perhaps even how homosexuality evolved.
Parents
• Homosexuality appears to be inherited more often form the mother
rather than the father.
• Sexual orientation is inborn from the environment which
surrounds the mother as she is pregnant.
• Only 10% of homosexuality is related to a arrogant mother and
absent father.
• On average the more male fetuses a
mother develops, she becomes more
immune to an antigen that a male fetus
produces, therefor the less antigen the
fetus produces relates to that of a
homosexual male
Preliminary findings
•
•
•
The most important paper that reported the ‘gay gene’ was from Hamer et al., a
team of geneticists working for the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Dean
Hamer and his colleagues reported in 1993 that, using DNA from homosexual
siblings and their pedigrees, a gene for homosexuality seemed to be maternally
linked and found on the Xq28 stretch of the X chromosome. He chose 40 pairs of
homosexual brothers and found that 33 of them shared a set of five markers on
the long arm of the X chromosome.
In the July 19, 1993 edition of Science, Hamer reported that the linkage translated
to a “99.5% certainty that there is a gene (or genes) in this area of the X
chromosome that predisposes a male to become a heterosexual”Despite this
statistical data, Hamer did try and put his findings in context and to qualify his
statements using words such as “suggest” and “seem to indicate.” He reports that
there are “probably several hundred genes in that region” and that most of them
aren't identified.
Despite his hesitiation, the media would soon project that his findings, of course,
proposed that science was well on its way to finding the gene for homosexuality.
Environment
• The environment influences your personality is also
influences your sexuality.
• Homosexuality is found within virtually every animal, from
sheep to fruit flies.
• Homosexuality in fruit flies can be caused by a simple
genetic change. Many reproductive and neurological genes
are shared by humans and flies, so its highly likely there are
major genes influencing homosexuality in humans
• Cigarette smoking is strongly associated with the
development of lung cancer just as homosexuality is often
associated to biological traits, but neither have been
proven.
VIDEOS
• http://youtu.be/L1W5jQL5DN8
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLjUsu3Vt0
Sources
• http://www.webmd.com/sexrelationships/news/20050128/is-there-gay-gene
• http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_caus4.ht
m
• http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/5502588482/sexual-sex-diversity-evidence.html.csp
• Finding Out : LGBTQ studies
• http://www.wnd.com/2010/06/161549/
• http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/born-gay