Is it true that homosexuality is hereditary?

He pride month This is a good time to start claiming what really needs to be claimed for the whole year. That every person is free to be who we feel we are and to love who our heart desires. Also to feel physical attraction to the one for whom the body asks us, even if the heart does not intervene. They seem like obvious things, but sometimes it’s hard to draw attention to them, so events like those that take place during Pride Month are needed. In these events, science plays a very important role in order to refute the data myths as a pathological origin homosexuality. Many people rely on genetics to support this position, but does it make sense?

The quick answer is that if genetics to explain homosexuality by assuming it is a disease has exactly the same logical weight as to claim that having blue eyes is a pathology.

Our genes describe who we are. They are our instructions. Therefore, it would not be strange if our sexual preferences or our gender identity They are written in our genes. However, the truth is that this is quite difficult to prove. It seems that there is a certain connection with genetics, but in fact, homosexuality is something complex, in which many more factors are involved.

Is there a gene for homosexuality?

In 1993, an American geneticist Dean Hamer published a study that was the first to report homosexuality gene. He did this by comparing the genomes of several pairs of homosexual twins, looking for some common factor that distinguished them from heterosexual people. So, he discovered a gene located on the X chromosome, in Xq28 area, which seemed to be the differential factor he was looking for. People started talking about the gene for homosexuality, and a lot of media around the world supported their discovery. However, when other laboratories tried repeat your researchmost of them failed.

This is a common thing in science. When someone publishes results, they should be treated with caution until other research groups come to the same conclusion through same procedure. If this is not achieved, one might think that these results were accidental or that they were obtained as a result of errors or, even worse, deception.

Hamer showed great interest in this kind of research. Even those that contradict their results. That’s why, it doesn’t look like you misrepresented your data on purpose. But it looks like something is wrong in your investigation.

Study that shows that not everything depends on genes

In 2019, a new study was published showing that genes have a minimal effect on a person’s sexual orientation.

To come to this conclusion, the data from 477,000 peoplecollected in several banks of genetic data, among which was a well-known company 23 and me. All these people were asked about their sexual interests and fantasies. In addition, they were asked if they had ever been in a relationship with people of the same gender.

With the help of these data, their genes were analyzed and it was found that people who had at least one homosexual relationship have 5 common points in the genome. However, these points are explained less than 1% of cases of homosexuality in general data.

In addition, if other points are taken into account, it was concluded that genetics could explain the homosexuality of these people in the proportion from 8% to 25%and the rest could be explained by other biological or environmental factors.

This study was highly supported by Hamer himself, although, according to him, it differed from his in that it did not take into account homosexuality, but curiosity and willingness to experiment with homosexual relationships. However, this is the most comprehensive study to date, including both men and women. For this reason, the “homosexuality gene” theory has been completely rejected since its publication.

Epigenetics may play an important role

Prior to the study that ruled out the homosexuality gene hypothesis, another had already been published pointing to DNA, but in a very different way: through epigenetics.

This is the branch of genetics that explains changes in DNA that are not recorded in its sequence. Let’s see what that means.

We are all born with a certain genome in our cells. That is, DNA, which contains all the information about who and how we are. This information is the same for all cells, but it is not read immediately. Not everywhere.

For example, the gene responsible for the synthesis of insulin will be in the cells of the eye and in the cells of the pancreas. However, in the cells of the eye, this is not needed, so it will always remain off. On the other hand, in the pancreas, which is the organ that produces insulin, it will have to light. Also I know ignite more when there is an increased amount of sugar in the blood and more insulin is needed. This is what is known as gene expression. Genes are expressed or catch firewhere they are needed and when they are needed.

When do epigenetic changes occur?

Whether a gene is expressed or not depends on where and when it is needed, but it can also be shaped by the environment. And this is what is known as epigenetics. Depending on the environment in which the fetus develops or even after birth, several modifications can be made to the DNA to tell it when a gene should be expressed. However, the most studied is methylationwhich consists of the placement of methyl groups, made up of one carbon and three hydrogen atoms, which act as labels indicating whether the gene should be turned on or off.

Normally, these modifications remain in the cells, but they disappear in the eggs and spermatozoa, which combine to give rise to a future new life. However, in some cases they do not disappear, but persist and can pass to offspring. This is why it is believed that some famines or wars can affect the DNA of people who have not experienced them.

What does this have to do with homosexuality?

In 2014, Eric Vilain of the University of California, Los Angeles conducted a study that analyzed the role of epigenetics in the homosexuality of several pairs of twins.

reckon with 37 mixed pairs of twinsin which one was homosexual and the other was not, and also 10, in which both brothers wereNo. Taking samples of his DNA, he analyzed 140,000 regions, We are looking for common factors. And he found them because he found 5 regions of DNA whose methylation was closely related to the fact that the twin was homosexual.

This is interesting, since twins have almost the same genome. It has been found that in very few cases there may be slight differences, but in general it is the same. Therefore, if there were homosexuality gene, mixed couples would not exist. Vilen showed that it is possible epigenetics what caused these changes. As for the environmental factors that cause it, this is unclear, although it may be due to subtle differences in fetal development such as blood supply or exact location in the uterus.

It doesn’t mean it’s bad

All the scientists who have conducted these studies insist that they want Genetic understanding of homosexuality. But this does not mean that it is a disease, or that it can be cured, or that tests are necessary to diagnose it.

In fact, if homosexuality is in the genes, directly or through epigenetics, it is shown that this is not a decision or a passing whim, but part of the instructions of these people. Part of who they are. No one has the right to attack another person for what he is. Not for his decisions. We have no right to pathologize, condemn or ridicule something as natural as life itself. Happy pride month.