Experiment Q

19 Dec 2019

GWAS into Same-Sex Attraction Factors

Natural Sciences, Science & Medicine

Same-sex attraction is something that exists in humans and other animals. But why? People can often be confused about why we see same-sex behaviour in an evolutionary biological system.

Earlier this year, a team of geneticists performed a GWAS (Genome-Wide Association Study) in which the genomes of over 477,000 individuals were sequenced and they identified 5 genetic markers that have a very high correlation with same-sex behaviour.

This is not a “gay gene”. Same-sex behaviour has multiple non-deterministic factors, both genetic and environmental. However, this study does shed some insight into the genetic architecture of same-sex attraction, and we talk to one of the paper’s authors, Dr Andrea Ganna, to learn more about it.

You can also find more information on their website.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:44 — 16.2MB)

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