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The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

nature.com

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Re: The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

#31

Post by zepto »

Kye wrote: post #3

A lot of the search for a gay gene seems trapped in an outdated understanding of sexuality as a binary proposition: "you're either A or B." How do you even begin to contemplate a study on sexuality once you understand it as highly varied and fluid? Same with gender. They're bimodal distributions at best . You can't just crop off the confounding valleys and call what you do with them good science.

Agreed - “no gay gene” is akin to saying “no intelligence gene” or “no autism gene”.

My understanding is that most psychological traits are now thought of as polygenic, so a statement like “there is no gay gene” is really misleading, because genetics simply doesn’t work that way.

Re: The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

#32

Post by nabla9 »

ohduran wrote: post #2

Not an expert here but, IF a gay gene existed, wouldn't have it been evolved into extinction?

Not necessarily.

* the same gene can have different phenotypes in different individuals. One phenotype may be net negative but the benefit from the other makes it net positive.

* in social animal gene can be carried by relatives. Extreme example is ants and bees, most of them are not fertile but they help to spread their genes by helping those who are.

Re: The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

#33

Post by pdpi »

ohduran wrote: post #2

Not an expert here but, IF a gay gene existed, wouldn't have it been evolved into extinction?

Not necessarily. If the gene is recessive, it will be passed on. The question then is: what happens when that gene expresses itself?

The naive reaction is: individuals with the "gay gene" won't reproduce and it will eventually die out. A more nuanced perspective is that while that individual won't reproduce, their presence in the community helps the clan's survival, so a community with the gene is overall stronger, so the gene will stay around.

Re: The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

#34

Post by ristlane »

Kye wrote: post #3

A lot of the search for a gay gene seems trapped in an outdated understanding of sexuality as a binary proposition: "you're either A or B." How do you even begin to contemplate a study on sexuality once you understand it as highly varied and fluid? Same with gender. They're bimodal distributions at best . You can't just crop off the confounding valleys and call what you do with them good science.

Not sure why you're being downvoted. You're right that human sexuality is nowhere near as clear cut as blonde/brown hair, or spotted fur on animals.

Still, that doesn't mean genetics do not play a role in determining human sexuality, binary or otherwise.

Re: The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

#36

Post by agravier »

ohduran wrote: post #2

Not an expert here but, IF a gay gene existed, wouldn't have it been evolved into extinction?

Depending on other conditions (environmental and genetic), a particular gene may not be expressed in the same manner (or at all). You can find simple examples in recessive alleles. The phenotype of such genes will only be expressed when both alleles are of a compatible type.

Another striking example: Sickle cell disease will only be deadly if both alleles carry the unfortunate mutation. But the unhealthy allele is unlikely to be eliminated by evolutionary pressure because carrying one allele provides significant protection against malaria.

The interactions between genes and their environment is usually more complicated that these simple examples, but I hope it illustrates that evolutionary pressure may not suffice to erase some apparently unsustainable alleles from the population.

Re: The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

#37

Post by kstrauser »

antattack wrote: post #19

Honest question: what is being gay? Is it physical attraction? Emotional attraction? Both? Is it dislike, fear(?) of opposite sex?

When I was in middle school, one day I noticed that this one girl was the most amazing person on the planet and I couldn't stop thinking about her.

I imagine being gay would be a lot like that, except it would've been a boy.

Re: The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

#38

Post by TulliusCicero »

antattack wrote: post #19

Honest question: what is being gay? Is it physical attraction? Emotional attraction? Both? Is it dislike, fear(?) of opposite sex?

Usually refers to romantic and/or sexual attraction to the same sex.

> Is it dislike, fear(?) of opposite sex?

Not generally, no, just like most straight people don't dislike members of their own sex.

Re: The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

#39

Post by coding123 »

I'm curious if they instead focused on a simple neural net that is fed genes + gay/straight flag if the NN would actually successfully predict it.... in other words, NN's don't care about "finding" that specific gene, they kinda include everything and it "finds" the gene without actually pointing it out.

That's very different from the human approach which is to try to find something specific.

I mean compare it to blood diseases based on genetics. There are many genes that lead to health problems that comes down the shape. But it's not just one thing, it's a spread of things. We're thinking Gay is a specific gene we're just as unlikely to find it.

Not arguing any specific direction, but I just suspect the findings if they don't include variances in their methods.

Re: The largest study to date on the genetic basis of sexuality (2019)

#40

Post by aardvarkr »

antattack wrote: post #19

Honest question: what is being gay? Is it physical attraction? Emotional attraction? Both? Is it dislike, fear(?) of opposite sex?

In the simplest terms, it’s seeing a beautiful naked body of the opposite sex and getting zero sexual pleasure out of it. That’s it. Being gay doesn’t stop you from forming close bonds with the opposite sex just like being straight doesn’t stop you from having best friends of the same sex.
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