StemCell Therapy

by Brandon Voss 4h ago

Baby, were you born this way?

AsapSCIENCE duo Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown explore the genetics of being gay in their latest myth-busting YouTube video.

Ultimately, a specific gay gene has not been found, but scientific evidence does suggest that human sexual orientation is strongly linked to genetics and tightly regulated at the molecular level, the guys say.

While unpacking their many findings, you may be surprised to learn that gay men have more gay relatives than straight men do. Gay people are also more likely to have gay siblings who share similar linkages on their chromosomes.

But gay people dont reproduce as much as straight people, so shouldnt they die out? A controversial UCLA study using twins proposed that everyone has the gay gene, even if its not triggered. And according to the Gay Uncle Hypothesis, gay members of a family that dont reproduce still increase the prevalence of their familys genes in future generations by helping to provide resources for offspring that theyre related to.

Putting genetic manipulation into more of a social context, Moffit and Brown also made a companion video in which they address the LGBT communitys fears about this type of research, pointing out that the Nazis tried to understand the biology behind homosexuality in order to eliminate it.

Could genetic research be used against gay people in the future? In theory, absolutely. There may not be a gay gene, but from a biological perspective, yes, being gay is likely highly controlled by genetics, Brown says.

Moffit, however, believes that the community will benefit from research that proves being gay is not a choice. The more we can understand the genetic background of homosexuality, the more we can mitigate the types of punishments that gay people are receiving around the world, he says.

Moffit and Brown came out to their followers as gay and a couple in 2014.

Geek out over gay genetics below.

Celebrity interviewer. Foodie and Broadway buff in Manhattan. Hates writing bios.

The rest is here:
Is There Really A Gay GeneAnd Can You Get Rid Of It? - NewNowNext

This entry was posted on August 5, 2017 at 4:42 pm and is filed under Molecular Genetics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |