Mom's Genetics Could Produce Gay Sons

[Jack]

This is an interesting news story:

The arrangement of a mother's genes could affect the sexual orientation of her son, according to a new study.

The finding, detailed in the February issue of the journal Human Genetics, adds fuel to the decade-long debate about whether so-called "gay genes" might exist.

The researchers examined a phenomenon called "X chromosome inactivation" in 97 mothers of gay sons and 103 mothers whose sons were not gay.

X and Y

Chromosomes are large thread-like molecules that contain an organism's genetic instructions. Humans have 23 chromosomes. The X chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in mammals; the other is the Y chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes and no Y's, while males have one X and one Y.

Even though women have two X chromosomes, only one is functional because the other is inactivated through a process called "methylation."

"It gets wrapped up in a ball and is not used with the exception of a few genes," explained study leader Sven Bocklandt of the University of California, Los Angeles.

If one of the females' X chromosomes is not turned off, then there is too much genetic material, which can lead to a harmful overabundance of proteins. Down syndrome, for example, results from the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21.

Normally, X chromosome inactivation occurs at random: half of the cells in a woman's body will have one X chromosome inactivated, while the other half inactivates the other chromosome.

However, when the researchers in the current study examined cells from those women who had at least two gay sons, they found that 42 of them—or 23 percent—showed something different.

"Every single cell that we looked at in these women inactivated the same X chromosome," Bocklandt told LiveScience. "That's highly unusual."

In contrast, only 4 percent of mothers with no gay sons and 13 percent of those with just one gay son showed this type of extreme skewing.

Bocklandt thinks this suggest that a mother's X chromosomes partly influences whether her son is gay or not.

"We think that there are one or more genes on the X chromosome that have an effect on the sexual orientation of the sons of these mothers, as well as an effect on the cells we were looking at," Bocklandt said.

Other chromosomes implicated

Bocklandt was also involved in an earlier study that looked at the entire human genome of men who had two or more gay brothers. The researchers found identical stretches of DNA on three chromosomes—7, 8 and 10—that were shared by about 60 percent of the gay brothers in the study.

That study also found mothers to have an unusually large role in their son's sexual orientation: the region on chromosome 10 correlated with homosexuality only if it was inherited from the mother.

The results from these two studies suggest that there are multiple genetic factors involved in determining a person's sexual orientation and that it might vary depending on the person.

"We think that there are going to be some gay men who are X chromosome gay men and some who are chromosome 7 gay men or chromosome 10 gay men or some combination," Bocklandt said in a telephone interview.

Most researchers now think that there is no single gay gene that controls whether a person is homosexual or not. Rather, it's the influence of multiple genes, combined with environmental influences, which ultimately determine whether a person is gay.

A touchy subject

Research into the genetics of sexual orientation is controversial. Religious leaders who believe that sexual orientation is a choice argue that such research is an attempt to legitimize homosexuality; others worry that a detailed knowledge of the genetics underlying homosexuality will open the door to genetic engineering that prevents it.

But Bocklandt doesn't think these concerns should prevent scientists from asking the basic question of whether homosexuality has an underlying genetic component to it or not.

"I have no doubt that at some point we'll be able to manipulate all sorts of aspects of our personality and physical appearance," Bocklandt said. "I think if there's ever a time when we can make these changes for sexual orientation, then we will also be able to do it for intelligence or musical skills or certain physical characteristics—but whether or not these things are allowed to happen is something that society as a whole has to decide. It's not a scientific question."

source: http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology ... genes.html

[Congratulations]

I'll remember this next time I hear the fundies shouting about how "unnatural" homosexuality is.

[Jack]

I am a "fundy" but I don't shout that.

(I whisper it quietly. )

[Congratulations]

I am a "fundy" but I don't shout that.

(I whisper it quietly. )

Oh, you're much too cute to be a fundy.

[anniemcu]

Very interesting!

And Cran, I wouldn't consider you a 'Fundie"... a person with religious views that focus on the fundamentals, yes, but not a 'Fundie". There *is* a difference.

[brewerpaul]

Very interesting!

And Cran, I wouldn't consider you a 'Fundie"... a person with religious views that focus on the fundamentals, yes, but not a 'Fundie". There *is* a difference.

Yeah-- a real fundy/homosexual would be an oxymoron since the bible clearly states that such a sexual orientation is an abomination. You'd be forced to stone yourself to death!

[anniemcu]

Very interesting!

And Cran, I wouldn't consider you a 'Fundie"... a person with religious views that focus on the fundamentals, yes, but not a 'Fundie". There *is* a difference.

Yeah-- a real fundy/homosexual would be an oxymoron since the bible clearly states that such a sexual orientation is an abomination. You'd be forced to stone yourself to death!

Unfortunately, I had a friend back in the 70's that nearly did so... felt so conflicted that he became suicidal... I hope he never succeeded on that ... lost touch, sadly. Bless his soul!

[Jack]

Yeah-- a real fundy/homosexual would be an oxymoron since the bible clearly states that such a sexual orientation is an abomination. You'd be forced to stone yourself to death!

Well, not necessarily:

http://www.truthsetsfree.net

http://www.whosoever.org

http://www.gaychristian.net

[Walden]

My great grandmother, when she says gay, she means brightly colored or cheerful. Sometimes it does seem like some people are born with brighter and cheerfuller dispositions than others, of course I don't doubt that some environmental fctors come into play.

...since the bible clearly states that such a sexual orientation is an abomination. You'd be forced to stone yourself to death!

Except that Christianity accepts the moral law but not the ceremonial, so that stoning is not practiced.

[brewerpaul]

Yeah-- a real fundy/homosexual would be an oxymoron since the bible clearly states that such a sexual orientation is an abomination. You'd be forced to stone yourself to death!

Well, not necessarily:

http://www.truthsetsfree.net

http://www.whosoever.org

http://www.gaychristian.net

Terrific! I'm glad to hear that. I guess when I think of fundy's I think of people who look no further than the black and white on the written page of the Bible with no thought of interpreting the spiritual messages behind it.

[emmline]

Yes Cran, I'm glad you've found these resources as well. It's concerned me somewhat that the place where you stand theologically seems heavily populated by folks who would not accept you as gay, and would feel that that aspect of you needs "correction." So I'm happy that kind of support exists.

[Jack]

Yes Cran, I'm glad you've found these resources as well. It's concerned me somewhat that the place where you stand theologically seems heavily populated by folks who would not accept you as gay, and would feel that that aspect of you needs "correction." So I'm happy that kind of support exists.

It has always existed, but it has also always been very "under ground," or at the very least, not visible enough to attract flying stones.

For example, the highly esteemed and much-published priest/author Henri Nouwen was a homo (and, like with many priests, it wasn't exactly a secret), but if you read biographies of him, that part is often simply left out all together (although, to be fair, like all western Catholic priests, he was celibate).

But when you understand it in relation to the rest of his life and writings, it means a lot more.

My hope is that the description of God's love in my life will give you the freedom and the courage to discover . . . God's love in yours.

[Flyingcursor]

Yes Cran, I'm glad you've found these resources as well. It's concerned me somewhat that the place where you stand theologically seems heavily populated by folks who would not accept you as gay, and would feel that that aspect of you needs "correction."

That's their problem. It's not the theology that sucks it's the way people mess it up.

[spittin_in_the_wind]

Thanks for posting that, Cran. It looks like they still have not determined whether it's the gene expression in the mother or in the son that counts, though. In other words, is the gene expression in the boy during his development (or later) the predisposing factor for homosexuality or was it something about the environment provided by the mother during egg development or pregnancy (and influenced by her gene expression) that resulted in a gay son. It would be very interesting to know that.

Robin

[Jack]

Thanks for posting that, Cran. It looks like they still have not determined whether it's the gene expression in the mother or in the son that counts, though. In other words, is the gene expression in the boy during his development (or later) the predisposing factor for homosexuality or was it something about the environment provided by the mother during egg development or pregnancy (and influenced by her gene expression) that resulted in a gay son. It would be very interesting to know that.

Robin

I think it would be interesting to know that, too.

Whenever a cause or (combination of causes) for homosexuality is finally "officially" discovered and documented, I suspect that male homosexuality will be shown to have a fundamentally different cause(s) from female homosexuality.

I don't really know why I suspect that, as I am obviously not a geneticist or scientist of any sort, but I just sort of have an intuition about it, I guess.