Chad, Jeremiah, and Daysha

1. The Gay Gene Chad, Jeremiah, and Daysha

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Passed down • Female relatives of the gay men will have a higher fertility. • Homosexuality is considered a “normal variant” (like being left-handed), rather than a disease. • Its said that homosexuality is born within you and influenced by the environment, like your personality.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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”Despitethis 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.

10. 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.

11. VIDEOS • http://youtu.be/L1W5jQL5DN8 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLjUsu3V-t0

12. Sources • http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20050128/is-there-gay-gene • http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_caus4.htm • http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/55025884-82/sexual-sex-diversity-evidence.html.csp • Finding Out : LGBTQ studies • http://www.wnd.com/2010/06/161549/ • http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/born-gay