"Is there a Gay Gene?"

Ally Minoli

            In the presentation, “Is there a Gay Gene,” Nadia Rahman explains there is scientific evidence to prove that there is indeed a gay gene called Xq28. In order to study this gene, scientists looked at the divergence from normal traits. They found 90% of men are attracted to women and vise versa. Over the past few decades, genetic, hormonal, neurobiological, and neurophysiological evidence has come to light. Scientists discovered that this “gay gene” comes from the X chromosome on the mother’s side. There are increased rates of homosexuality if the maternal male relatives are homosexual. Atypical endocrine conditions during the embryonic development can determine the homosexual orientation. Also, homosexual and heterosexual attraction, behavior, and self-identification are more heritable for women than men. Scientists have performed studies on mice, similarly to the study of human diseases using mice. These studies are the polygenic analysis of experimental crosses, which are crosses with mice or rats that allow for genetic dissection of mammalian behavior and complex traits. Basically, Nadia explained that female mice treated with testosterone exhibited male pattern behavior. Scientists found naturally castrated males with an absence of testosterone exhibited female pattern behavior. Ultimately, there are evident biological contributions to human sexual orientation. Also, human sexuality can arise from a number of different contributing factors; some or which are biological and others environmental. However, it is inconclusive of how biological factors and postnatal environmental factors work together to give rise to a homosexual phenotype.

The presentation was very well done. The information was clearly obtainable and presented in a way that was easy to understand. The presenter did an amazing job at explaining all of the harder scientific concepts. Also, the topic was very intriguing.

The symposium was such a neat experience. I enjoyed the mixture of college students and high school students. One poster that caught my eye was “Are you eating a radioactive banana?” It was very mesmerizing, because the friendly college-boy, Brendan, had built a device for testing the radioactivity of an object. His presentation had very complex information, but he explained that bananas are, in fact, radioactive. I was impressed by how well the presenters knew their information. I thoroughly enjoyed the symposium.