Gay Genes?
Interesting article here, I got this from UT mailing groups. It talks about this new research they've done trying to locate a gene that control homosexuality. Interesting no? Read on.
----------------------------------- Article ----------------------------------------------
See summary and FAQ here:http://mypage.iu.edu/~bmustans/Summary.htm
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISAT CHICAGO
Institute for Juvenile Research Department of Psychiatry (M/C 747)1747 W. Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60608, USA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:FIRST GENOME SCAN OF MALE SEXUAL ORIENTATION PUBLISHED
CHICAGO, Illinois, USA, January 12, 2005— A new genetic study helpsexplain why some men are gay and other men are heterosexual. The firstresearch project that examines linkage between male sexual orientationand genes across the human genome was published this month in theprestigious biomedical journal, Human Genetics. The culmination ofseveral years of research, the report identified three new chromosomalregions of interest.One hundred forty-six families that had two or more gay brothersparticipated in the study. The largest finding was a statisticallysuggestive linkage to a region on chromosome 7 called 7q36, and thesecond largest link was found on chromosome 8, in a region called8p12. There was also an interesting finding on chromosome 10, in theregion called 10q26, where the linkage to sexual orientation onlyoccurred if that region was inherited from the mother. This is likelya result of the recently discovered phenomenon that geneticists call"genomic imprinting." Given the complex nature of sexual orientationit is not surprising that multiple genetic regions were implicated.According to the lead author of the study, Dr. Brian Mustanski, "Ourstudy helps to establish that genes play an important role indetermining whether a man is gay or heterosexual. It expands uponprevious research with twins, which has consistently found evidencefor genetic influences on sexual orientation. The next steps will beto see if these findings hold up in a new sample and then identify theparticular genes within these newly discovered chromosomal regions."Dr. Mustanski emphasized that finding the specific genes would haveimplications beyond uncovering the cause of homosexuality. Theiridentification would also greatly advance our understanding of humanvariation, evolution, and brain development.Previous genetic research had focused on the X-chromosome, which meninherit only from their mothers, because of the tendency forhomosexuality to pass through the mother's side of the family. Whenthe scientists used their new genetic markers, they confirmed linkageto the X chromosome in the previously studied families of this sort,but not in new families with different patterns of inheritance. Thispattern of findings suggests that different genes may influence sexualorientation in different families – a process referred to as locusheterogeneity.The study was conducted at the National Institutes of Health in thelaboratory of the senior author, Dr. Dean Hamer. Researchers in thelaboratory of Dr. Nicholas Schork at the University of California atSan Diego provided statistical consultation on the project. Dr. BrianMustanski is currently at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The study was published in the online version of Human Genetics on January12, 2005 and will be in print in an upcoming issue of the journal.For more information please contact Dr. Brian Mustanski, at312-996-9505 or bmustanski@psych.uic.edu. The article can bedownloaded from the publisher at:
http://springerlink.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1007/s00439-004-1241-4###
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