Inherited Genes

[rov1200]

Now that Eton John has publicly stated that he supplied the sperm to the surrogate mother in order to have a boy does that mean there is a 50% chance the child will turn out to be a homosexual?

[cathfromsaron]

most gay people have straight parents!
how do you work that one out!
i wish them all the best!

[NazNomad]

How many 'sexual types' are there?

100 divided by that number will give you the percentage.

[rov1200]

I think we are getting into the argument that being gay is dependent on your genes rather than the environment, Who is right?

[cathfromsaron]

i think you can learn any negative or positive behaviours eg. smoking, swearing, being workshy and the opposites etc, but i think personally with sexual preferences you just "are what you are" along the v butch to v camp line and back again!

also 'gayness' can be suppressed by society's expected gender stereotypes ... two ladies i know didn't come out until their 50s! and they have been happily married and had kids!

[LazyGun]

@Rov - No. As always, it is a little more complicated than that. Your question implies a couple of things, neither of which are accurate - That humans are like peas and that simple Mendelian inheritance patterns apply, and also that there is a single, identifiable, gay gene..

Human Sexual Orientation is more than just a simple, black and white argument between genetics vs environment. It is more complicated than that. Best evidence to date suggests that sexual orientation arises from a combination of a range of biological and environmental factors, encompassing genetic,embryonic and hormonal components. The effect of the environment, ie early years upbringing, individual choice, behavioral imprinting etc seems less clear to me, but has been acknowledged

That there is a substantial biological / genetic component has been demonstrated beyond question, with some of the indicative evidence coming from identical twin studies for example.

[bednobs]

also, you assume the mother isn't gay

[jomifl]

Ask the question in 10 years Rov. It is just possible that somebody may be able to give an answer that has some degree evidence to support it. At the moment speculation rules.

[DTCwordfan]

As Elton said to David, "Take your genes off and I will show you."

[rov1200]

To believe that gayness stems even partly from your genes is wishful thinking. Scientists have spent years trawling through our genetic code and the Gay gene does not exist.

This means that being gay is almost certainly due to our environment.

[vascop]

Rov
Why do you say "wishful thinking"?

[chakka35]

Yes, rov 1200, are you trying to make some sort of homophobic point here?

It should be pretty obvious that homosexuality is. like heterosexuality, something you are born with. It is exactly equivalent to left-handedness or red hair - perfectly natural but a minority trait. Which is what makes the anti-homosexual bigotry of the Church and some individuals so disgraceful.

That no-one has yet found a gay gene means nothing. Do you know how huge the human genome is?

[society]

"Now that Eton John has publicly stated that he supplied the sperm to the surrogate mother in order to have a boy does that mean there is a 50% chance the child will turn out to be a homosexual? "

I find this ^^^ absurd and disturbing.

[rov1200]

Chakka

///That no-one has yet found a gay gene means nothing. Do you know how huge the human genome is? ///

You are an intelligent person. You must know how scientists look for any abnormality in our genetic makeup. You just look for any differences of the DNA in homosexuals against hetrosexuals, They have proved they are just as normal as each other which must be a blessing to them. Nurture must be the reason!

[chakka35]

rov1200, of course they are as normal as each other. That's what I was saying. It is only homophobes of various degree or other who think that homosexuals are somehow unnatural. And what would be a blessing to whom?

My daughter is a research scientist into the human genome. I will ask her about the DNA aspect. Watch this space.

[rov1200]

If she can't say we'll have to get Fred Sanger on the problem. If you don't know who he is your daughter will certainly know.

[chakka35]

Yes, I certinly know who Fred Sanger is, but I don't need to bother him, having an expert in the family.

[chakka35]

I’ve had an answer from my daughter regarding the homosexual gene. It is far too long to post here. But her first comments are all-important. She says it is mistaken (her actual word was ‘ludicrous’) to give any importance at all to the fact that no such gene has been found. She goes on to say:

“Many things are known to be genetic that we have not found genes for. Height, for instance, is clearly genetic, but we needed to look at tens of thousands of people to even begin to find ‘height genes’. Nothing on this scale has been done for homosexuality.”

The point seems to be that the vast amount of effort – and therefore money – involved in searching for particular genes is justified only when the end product is likely to be worth it.
Her research over the last few years has involved the genetic bases for memory and for intelligence, work which might well give us insight into diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. To this end she has had to travel extensively to find, interview and gather DNA from a great variety of people.

A person’s sexuality is of no importance except to someone who wants to form a relationship with that person or, of course, to some religious bigots. It is too trivial to spend time and money on.

[joggerjayne]

"Inherited" genes ... as opposed to ... ???