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Sat 6 Nov, 2004 07:07 pm
Mothers' genetic skew linked to gay sons
19:00 03 November 04
Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues.
There has been much debate over 'gay genes'. Now an intriguing study raises another possibility: in some cases, variations in the genetic program we inherit from our parents, rather than in the genes themselves, might determine sexual preference.
Our genome is 'programmed' by the addition of chemical markers called methyl groups to the DNA, which shut down genes. One of the most dramatic examples of methylation is the shutdown of one of the two X chromosomes (one from each parent) in every woman?s cells, a process called X-inactivation (New Scientist print edition, 10 May 2003).
Normally, this process is random; either of the X chromosomes can be inactivated.
But when Sven Bocklandt of the University of California, Los Angeles, compared blood and saliva samples from 97 mothers of gay men with samples from 103 mothers without gay children he found this process was extremely skewed in the mothers with gay sons, with one X chromosome being far more likely to be inactivated than the other.....
Full story:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996612
What ever we find will never be proof enough to those who find homosexuality distasteful. Kind of like evolution.
I'm sorry, was that bitter and ungrateful? Thanks for the link and info dlowan.
Nah - I am with you.
Thing is - where are we smegging well at in this world where a genetic explanation is even seen as being of any interest??????
If people absolutely without any genetic contribution choose homosexuality, where do these people get off thinking they have any more right to be prejudiced and destructive than they do with what colour one chooses for one's bedroom walls?
I just DON'T GET IT!!!!! WHAT is homophobia the heck about????
Sigh...
I don't get it either, sorry I can't help enlighten you.
Genetic explanation is considered left-wing propaganda here in the states.
At one point in my 40's I had a proclaimed gay son in love with a man he was not living with and a proclaimed straight son living platonically with a woman he was not in love with.
Children!
the most popular explanation here in the US is that homosexuality is caused by flouride in the drinking water (also listed as a likely cause of communist/socialist tendencies)
dyslexia--
Homosexuality is caused by those people who complain about the additives in Twinkies and other delectable snack food.
You know, some of them queers cook gormay.
About thirty years ago I had a counseling client who was dealing with issues of sexuality and gender confusion. In one session he told me that he always bought womens jeans because his body was such that, 'women's jeans fit better'.
When I received the typed copy of my initial assessment (transcribed from my hand-written notes) I noted that the typist, in an apparent Freudian slip of the hand, had typed:
'Client insists that womens genes fit him better'
dlowan wrote:WHAT is homophobia the heck about????
It is about the same thing that racism is about: insecurity and fear. Anyone who is confident of who they are is (in my experience) incapable of both racism and homophobia.
Merlin'sGodson - I dunno if that's all there is to it.
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