This paper was prepared for course ___________________ for Professor _________________.
THE GAY GENE AND HOMOSEXUALITY Author 2
Even with the plethora of technological advances available to the world, the issue of what exactly determines if an individual becomes a homosexual still remains unresolved. Some people feel homosexuality is a decision based on a person’s environment or is a personal choice, while others contend there has to be some factor in a person’s DNA that makes them harken to homosexuality. No matter what stance a person or organization chooses to select, what is readily apparent is scientific studies of various circumstances, factors and situations have yielded a multitude of results. Therefore, the verdict according to a study that was released in February of this year, is there no such thing as a gay gene. It is an oversimplification of what really transpires with the X chromosome, but there is a genetic link to an individual becoming homosexual (Knapton, 2014).
The first real evidence of a genetic predisposition to homosexuality was produced in 1993 by Dr. Dean Hamer of the US National Cancer Institute and his research associates. After expansively interviewing 76 sets of homosexual brothers and their extended families, Hamer hypothesized homosexuality appeared to be inherited through the female line. Therefore, he scrutinized his research subjects X chromosomes, which can only be transmitted by a child’s mother and discovered the participants in his study shared a genetic marker called Xq28. Since Hamer’s initial work, more than 400 studies have commenced attempting to find the specific genetic link or actual gene that causes homosexuality, but they have limited in their scope due to funding issues over the subject matter of the research and Hamer’s results were entirely contradicted by George Rice, a neuroscientist at the University of Western Ontario (Abrams, 2007).
THE GAY GENE AND HOMOSEXUALITY Author 3
Hamer contends that Rice’s study was not valid because of an internal bias by Rice and the other two studies bolstering Rice’s discoveries were also false. “They did not even look at the entire X chromosome,” he said. “They gave up immediately.” Therefore, Hamer contends if the studies are read in the right fashion, they do indeed support his findings (Abrams, 2007). Many researchers in the scientific community, however, do not feel Hamer’s results were conclusive. Especially since no other study has produced the same results.
There is another study, however, that did produce similar results to Hamer’s. Conducted by Stella Hu in the same year (1993) as Hamer’s research was performed, Hu examined the X chromosomes of heterosexual brothers to see if they also had the same connection Hamer had observed. The results demonstrated that 67% of the homosexual pairs and only 22% of the heterosexual pairs shared any X-linked connection (Lee, 2010). Even though this confirms that heterosexual males lack certain Xq28 regions, the sample sizes were smaller, using only 32 homosexual pairs and 11 heterosexual pairs (Lee, 2010). Therefore, “Subsequently, Xq28 continues to only be a plausible factor of male homosexuality as females and heterosexual males show no excessive links. These findings along with pedigree analyses also confirm the lack of paternal transmission for Xq28 in women” (Lee, 2010).
As mentioned above the Rice study casts a considerable shadow upon Hamer and Hu’s previous work. He replicated Hamer’s study very closely except he incorporated a larger sample size with 52 and his research subjects resided in Canada rather than Italy. Rice’s results, however, were markedly different as his data showed a 55% link between X chromosomes. “Comparatively to both Hamer and Hu’s findings of 83% and 67%
THE GAY GENE AND HOMOSEXUALITY Author 4
correlations, the final conclusion did not support Xq28 in a significant manner. This discrepancy is largely unaccounted for except a possibility that tighter controls in
the previous studies may have been used to exclude potential candidates depending on
homosexual relatives” (Lee, 2010). What is known is the differences in what Rice discovered lend credence to how reliable Hamer and Hu’s results were.
In the same year Rice revealed his study, John Bailey’s work was an attempt to expand and alter the samples used for this type of research. Unlike Hamer’s,Hu’s and Rice’s research subjects who were volunteers from newspaper advertisements, Bailey studied people from an HIV clinic and a gay pride parade. He also studied many more subject than the previous studies. “Although there continues to be a sampling bias from this method, it has more validity than collecting volunteers through advertisements. Consequently, this study found no definitive support for Xq28 but reiterates that it does not exclude the possibility of a moderate linkage” (Lee, 2010).
Dr. Michael Bailey of Northwestern University is the author of the latest research study on the gay gene. He first published work on the subject in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Bailey examined 400 sets of identical twins for 14 years and while he did determine they did share the genetic marker Xq28, he does not feel this genetic material is the reason these men are gay. He did discover, however, if one identical twin was gay, the other twin had a 50 percent chance of also being homosexual while that instance decreased to 20 percent among fraternal twins. In his opinion, there are other determining factors besides an actual gene or genes (Abrams, 2007).
He said, “Sexual orientation has nothing to do with choice. Our findings suggest there may be genes at play – we found evidence for two sets that affect whether a man is gay or
GAY GENE AND HOMOSEXUALITY Author 5
straight. But it is not completely determinative; there are certainly other environmental factors involved. The study shows that there are genes involved in male sexual orientation. Although this could one day lead to a pre-natal test for male sexual orientation, it would not be very accurate, as there are other factors that can influence the outcome” (Knapton, 2014).
According to Bailey, environmental factors do play a tremendous role in whether an individual becomes homosexual. He stresses, however, that environmental factors do notnecessarily mean the social environment a person is exposed to. An environmental factor is simply something that is not present in a person’s DNA so any of these stimuli can be produced from a variety of sources. “Don’t confuse environmental with socially acquired,” he said (Knapton, 2014).
What is also fascinating is there has been no such genetic discovery when it comes to homosexual women. Also, they respond differently than gay men do to certain stimuli and images during a clinical interview. With men, they clearly demonstrate they are gay, while women tend to associate images and concepts in such a fashion, it is nearly impossible to discern whether they are homosexual or heterosexual. This is why some scientists feel men could be predisposed to homosexuality because of the condition of the mother during her pregnancy.
In 2013, Canadian researchers ascertained if a man has older male siblings that are homosexual, they are much more likely to become gay. Their hypothesis is each time a mother produces a male child, her immune reaction heightens. They feel this causes the mother to pass on more feminine qualities to a male fetus. Dr. Alan Sanders, an associate professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University who was involved in Bailey’s study said, “We don’t think genetics is the whole story. It’s not. We have a gene that contributes to
GAY GENE AND HOMOSEXUALITY Author 6
homosexuality, but you could say it was linked to heterosexuality it is the variation” (Knapton, 2014).
In another study published in the Quarterly Review of Biology, William Rice and Urban Freiberg deduced that homosexuality does begin in the womb through the use of epi-marks. These devices are merely switches, so to speak, that turn our genetic material is controlled and expressed in utero in addition to shortly after a child a born. “Specifically, the researchers discovered sex-specific epi-marks which, unlike most genetic switches, get passed down from father to daughter or mother to son. Most epi-marks don't normally pass between generations and are essentially "erased." Rice and Friberg say this explains why homosexuality appears to run in families, yet has no real genetic underpinning” (Dvorsky, 2012).
Rice and Freiberg constructed a mathematical and biological model which calculated how homosexuality could be determined through epigenetics. Their study sounds rather complex as “This data was integrated with recent findings from the epigenetic control of gene expression, especially in embryonic stem cells. This allowed the researchers to develop and empirically support a mathematical model of epigenetic-based canalization of sexual development, or the tendency of heredity to restrict the development of some characteristics to just one or a few traits. Their model successfully predicted the evolution of homosexuality in both sexes when canalizing epi-marks carry over across generations with nonzero probability” (Dvorsky, 2012).
Therefore, while genetics does play some unknown role in a male developing into a homosexual, the exact specifics of what gene and how that it occurs remains undetermined. What lends more credence to the theory that genetics is not the main factor in homosexuality
GAY GENE AND HOMOSEXUALITY Author 7
is that women possess no such genetic marker. Would it not be the same for both sexes? It would only make sense. Until conclusive and irrefutable evidence is produced concisely revealing there is a gay gene, it must be concluded that no such genetic trigger for homosexuality exists.
Per the subject matter we covered in class in regards to this argumentative paper, the elements incorporated were actually quite basic. Metaphors and allusions were not used as the data available illustrated there was a scientific basis to determine why there is no such thing as a gay gene or at least it has not been discovered. The research used is an example of cogent reasoning, since it is simply presenting the facts to prove a point. This is a good technique to employ when there is enough information to clearly support a point, thought or argument. It is also very clear cut, concise and to the point.
As far as the type of audience for this paper, it would be more of a general one. This means it would be presented before people that did not have a strong scientific background in or extensive knowledge of this issue. In fact, they might only be hearing about the fact there is a copious amount of debate over whether such a gene exists for the first time. For any argument strong evidence in support of the point should always be produced, but in the case, in may need to be as deeply detailed if the audience did possess a large amount of knowledge in the subject area. Also, this is a Classical argumentative paper rather than a Rogerian one because there is a clear thesis stated at the beginning of the essay with strong evidence to buttress that argument presented throughout. There is also a very strong, logical conclusion.
References
Abrams, Michael. (2007). The Real Story on Gay Genes. Discover Magazine. Web.
June 5, 2007. Retrieved on May 23 from http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/born-gay.
Dvorsky, George. (2012). Scientists claim homosexuality is not genetic – but it does arise in
the womb. Io9.com. Web. Published on December 12, 2012 and retrieved on June 9,
2010 from http://io9.com/5967426.
Knapton, Sarah. (2014). Being homosexual is only partly due to gay gene, research finds. The
Telegraph. February 14, 2014. Web. Retrieved on May 23 from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/.
Lee, Phillip. (2010). A review of Xq28 and the effect on homosexuality. Interdisciplinary
Ruse, M. (1982-6-01). Are There Gay Genes? Journal of Homsexuality. 6(4), 5-34 doi:
10.1300/JO82v0f604_02.Spears, T. (2005, Jan 29). Gay genes could determine homosexuality, study suggests.
CanWest News Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/460844148?accountid=25307.
