How can homosexuality be genetic when homosexuals don't reproduce? amirite?

Well, according to Time Magazine: National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Biochemistry reported in the journal Science that families of 76 gay men included a much higher proportion of homosexual male relatives than found in the general population. Intriguingly, almost all the disproportion was on the mother's side of the family. That prompted the researchers to look at the chromosomes that determine gender, known as X and Y. Men get an X from their mother and a Y from their father; women get two X's, one from each parent. Inasmuch as the family trees suggested that male homosexuality may be inherited from mothers, the scientists zeroed in on the X chromosome.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

When you have 76 gay men, obviously there's going to be more homosexuality. But how does it get passed on when they don't reproduce?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Are you in middle school?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No, I'm a sophomore in high school. I'm in 2 AP classes and I'm getting all A's and B's. I don't see how that's relevant though.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

because if you were in middle school, you wouldn't have taken biology yet. It wasn't supposed to be an insult.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I took biology last year. I get about heterozygous genes. But how are any parts of the gene passed on when they can't reproduce?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

A woman is heterozygous for the gene and marries a man who is also heterozygous.... using punnet squares (assuming that it's that simple) their children have a 25% chance of being homosexual.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How does the heterozygous gene even come to be then?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

A mutation is the past is passed on... but like WAYYYYYY in the past

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But if mutations do cause homosexuality, then when the mutation happened, it wouldn't be passed on. So the gene wouldn't be able to transfer at all.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Ok... Man mates with woman who has a mutation in one of her alleles for homosexuality. Their child is heterozygous and keeps passing on the gene. The straight gene is just dominant.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Again, going with the theory, the mutation causes homosexuality. Homosexuals generally do not mate. So no part of the allele is passed on.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

please tell me that you are not in Bio AP

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I only took 7th grade bio but I can understand this. Assuming the offspring ISN'T gay and the straight gene is what took over the homosexual gene, they still carry that gene with them then when they have kids, their offspring may become gay. It can't be much simpler than that.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

ps If you're taking AP Bio and can't understand this, then I guess this means that the course a. teaches you nothing or b. I'll have an easy ride when I take it next year.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Thank-you... I thought I was making it too complicated.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How do you not get this? If homosexuality is recessive: He's use the letter H. A man and his wife have kids, and their genotype is Hh (for both of them, they're both hererozygous), then the resulting genotypes will be HH, Hh, Hh, and hh. The hh would be be homosexual. A kid with Hh would just pass it down. If it's a genetic mutation, the same thing would happen. Two parents both have the mutation, but you have two copies of each gene, and say both need to be mutated to have a kid who's homosexual. After meiosis, there are 2 cells with the mutated gene and two without. The female happens to keep one of the mutated ones, and the male passes down a mutated one. The two mutated ones together result in a gay kid. I've understood the first way since I was in 5th grade, and now as a freshman, I understand the second one. It's NOT that hard. Biology is easy.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I never knew "gay" could be seen as a disease... I thought it was just something born from environmental/atmosphere impacts

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Punnett square are used for traits as well.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Wait, did I say it was a disease? Punnett squares are used for traits, as vitaminb said.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That's how I feel about it too. But obviously...not everyone does.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If it's recessive, then we would most likely have no doubt that it was genetic. If it is a mutation, the people WITH the mutation don't pass it on. So they can't pass the mutation on.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

YES THEY CAN. XP is a disease that I cannot spell that is severe and causes cancer and most kids die from it by 10 or 15. They only get it if both copies of their gene have the mutation. If they only have one copy, they are a carrier. If that is how sexuality is determined, the same thing is completely possible.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Look up kin selection and sex linked inheritance. You'll understand.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Here's a punnett square for you. Homosexuality is the recessive trait, heterosexuality is the dominant trait. Both parents are heterozygous for heterosexuality. G g --------- G GG Gg g Gg gg 25%- Homozygous dominant. 25%- Homozygous recessive. 50%- Heterozygous. Understand now?@885035 (Dean_Thomas):

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But then again, this is in hereditary form, rather than genetic.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I understand how that works. However, assuming that the gene is a mutation that is passed on, it wouldn't be passed on because people with the mutation wouldn't reproduce. I just wanna say though, thanks for being one of the people who try to explain instead of just saying, "You're stupid."

by Anonymous 13 years ago

if the gene is a mutation that is passed on, it could be passed on recessively through brothers or sisters until it becomes dominant. then the brother or sister has a gay kid, but the gay kids brothers and sisters still pass on the gene.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

heterozygous individuals pass on the trait

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Closeted homosexuals reproducing with the opposite gender.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Still, that doesn't happen often enough for homosexuality to be increasing, going with the theory that it's genetic.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Homosexuality is not increasing -- it is slowly becoming more and more accepted in society, therefore more homosexuals are coming forth. Homosexuality has always been fairly prevalent, but it was kept quiet much more in the past. Also, this same argument could be used against down syndrome. People who suffer from down syndrome are almost always infertile, yet the disease is still widespread.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm gonna ask a genetic question before possibly making myself feel stupid. Is the Down's syndrome gene a dominant or recessive gene?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It's neither; Down's syndrome is a genetic mutation (three copies of Chromosome 21). Homosexuality is also believed to be caused by a genetic mutation. There is a difference between genetic and hereditary, though. Just because something is genetic does not mean it is passed down from generation to generation.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That was my first thought, and then a huge discussion about genetics started.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

^this OP, have you heard of genetic mutations? Things happen without a parent being a carrier.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yes, I have. And unless it's beneficial to the human race(which it's not, since homosexuals don't reproduce and the population would go down) and natural selection makes the mutation repeat and become more common, it doesn't repeat and spread.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh yeah? Explain cancer.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Stupidity is also not beneficial to the human race but we have tons of stupid people running around.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I have red hair. My parents have brown hair and blonde hair. They both carry the recessive allele for red hair. The same situation can spread homosexuality. Both parents can carry the recessive mutation without being gay. Gay people don't need to procreate to pass on the gene.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

So how the hell does the gene pass on, when the people who get it through a mutation don't reproduce? Hair color is a recessive gene. You have red hair because your parents' parent's or some ancestor had red hair, a recessive gene, and REPRODUCED.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The mutation can be recessive. A person can carry the gay gene and still be straight since the gay gene (or mutation, whatever) is recessive. If two people who carry the recessive gene have kids they can be born heterozygous straight, homozygous gay, or homozygous straight. If they are heterozygous they will carry the gene/mutation and still be straight. Understand?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Again, the recessive gene isn't passed on, because the mutation would cause people to be gay. Since the actual gay people carry the gene, they can't make anyone carriers either.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Gay people don't pass the gene, straight people do. Just like my parents don't have red hair, but I do. They had different colored hair, but still carried the red hair gene. Straight people can carry the gene and if both straight parents pass on the gene they will have a gay baby. If you've really taken biology, you would understand that.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Straight people don't get the gene, because the only people with the mutation don't reproduce. The gene has to be passed down to straight people by homosexuals, which doesn't happen.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If the mutation only affects one allele and is recessive a straight person can still carry the mutation. What if it's not a mutation but a regular gene instead? If it is a mutation, how many closeted gay people donated sperm or have children? It's more than you'd think, especially considering how many gay people for the past few decades never came out.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I don't think they teach genetics in Hogwarts.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

They don't. That would explain why Dean is such a twit when it comes to genetics.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

This entire discussion assumes that there's a single "gay" gene. I don't know why some people are gay, but I'm betting it's a lot more complicated than a simple dominant-recessive pattern. Genetics isn't as simple as the Punnet squares you learn in high school biology. Most human traits aren't controlled by a single gene. I'm guessing there are multiple contributing genes as well as multiple environmental factors that play a role. I seriously doubt that there's a magic formula that makes someone gay (i.e. allele x environmental factor y = gay person). It's a combination of multiple factors, both genetic and environmental. You say that gay individuals can't pass on their genes: If sexuality is influenced by multiple traits, it is both possible and likely that a heterosexual person will possess some of these "gay" alleles, and will pass them on to offspring. Some children will be gay, most will be straight, but the genes will remain present in the popula...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You should read the comments on this post: http://www.amirite.net/378304

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Some people who are gay feel pressured to be straight and have sex with women (assuming they are men) and have children anyway.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it somehow involves hormones in the brain. Meaning that is a mutation different from the "generic" human. HOWEVER. This is not strange at all because; Humans are only supposed to have brown eyes, and dark hair. yet we have mutations of people with blue eyes, blonde hair, etc. Humans, after infancy, are not supposed to be able to digest milk or dairy. Anyone who can properly digest milk and dairy after infancy is considered, by the generic humans makeup, to be mutated. Mutations are common in any species. It just so happens that the "gay gene" or whatever the hell you 'wanna call it, is different from the hair-genes, or the digestion-genes, etc.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Actually, I think that scientists have found evidence that homosexuality may be the result of hormonal factors in the womb. (Higher amount of the hormones for the opposite of the baby's gender, gender-specific antigens, and things like that) So in that case, homosexuality isn't genetic in the hereditary/chromosomal sense, but it does still have a biological basis that is outside of a person's control.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I could believe that. It sounds plausible

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well, many people were homosexual a hundred years ago and beyond, and reproduced.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

just shut up OP

by Anonymous 13 years ago

OP makes me facepalm, given the circumstances that homosexuality is a gene being passed down, Pikabeau and Ikun's arguments are easy to understand. For example, a straight couple are heterozygous straight. Let's say T is straight, and t is gay. Both parents are Tt, and the straight son is also Tt, but the gay son hit the 25% chance and ended up tt, or homozygous gay, and is a homosexual. Then again, homosexuality could really not be gene-related and every argument here is invalid.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well, judging from the relatively low rate of homosexuality, it would most likely be a recessive trait and recessive traits have a tendency to skip generations. But that's assuming the absolute simplest possible method of inheritance (which is unlikely considering just how rare homosexuality is). It's more than likely a trait that's controlled by linked genes or polygenic inheritence. But that's a little more complicated. That being said, it's highly unlikely that it's completely genetic or completely based on prenatal conditions.This is because there are cases of identical twins where one was homosexual and the other was not. Environmental factors are at play as well. But in response to the OP, studies have found that people are more likely to be homosexual if one of their biological siblings was also homosexual, meaning that homosexuality is definitely and without a doubt influenced by genetics

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh my god, you are my favorite. One of the few people in this discussion who seems to understand anything beyond basic high school biology.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

(sowhati'mgay): My pleasure :)

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I don't see the correlation exactly. Either way I don't think it's genetic, but I do believe that they are born with it in some way.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How can they be born with it if it's not somehow genetic?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

(Sorry, I wanted an excuse to make that face)

by Anonymous 13 years ago

..how do people become bisexual?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

what about bisexuals?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Hahahahahahahahaha. The end.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm eating chips!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Go back to MLIA.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

They're Barbecue flavored :)

by Anonymous 13 years ago

i'm sure someone else has said this already, but it's a genetic mutation. like having blue eyes.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Hi. My dad's gay. My biological dad. Thank you. Goodbye.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If thats the case, are you gay as well?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No, but my younger sister is.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Hm thats interesting..

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yup. And there's always the possibility that my other two siblings are too, but I don't know, seeing as they're seven and four. :P

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Haha yeah. 3 other siblings? I couldnt imagine!!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Haha, it's not so bad, except for I get stuck babysitting all the time. DX

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That sucks :/

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Indeed. I'm missing school tomorrow to babysit. x_x

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You have school now? But atleast you get to skip a day.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yep. And I missed like, two weeks before vacation because I had surgery. So I'm not too thrilled about missing a day.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Thats aweful. Why did you have surgery?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Cyst on my neck. :P

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Ewwww. It just keeps getting worse and worse.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yup. Haha.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

A straight person can have the gay gene, not be affected by it and pass it on. Whats not to get? I'm 12 and i understand this

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You cannot be born gay. We were made in God's image. Homosexuality is a choice.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Greetings, Brainwashed Person. It's not nice to meet you.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Brainwashed? How do you figure?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

"You cannot be born gay. We were made in God's image. Homosexuality is a choice." That's how I figure.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

People can have their own opinions. Sorry if they don't match up exactly with yours.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That's not an opinion - it's bullshit.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

What if I just came out and said that that sentence was bullshit, with no basis? That's what you're doing. People are entitled to their own opinions, regardless of how right or wrong they are.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

As am I.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Very true. But you can't call people brainwashed for having a different opinion.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

In other words, you don't know. You just thought you'd be cute and make a smart comment that you can't back up. Figures.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well, basically, I find your comment pathetic because you attempted to back up your point by saying God made it that way. Which, in case you haven't realised, is not proof.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I don't need proof. Faith is believing even what you can't see. Sorry there was no link I could post. That was simply my opinion on the matter.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You stated it as a fact. Therefore, you should be able to back it up with proof - which you can't do.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I agree on the first part. But I think it's more environmental factors, rather than people just randomly deciding to be gay.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If we were to test whether it was genetic we could have 2 gay people mate and make test tube babies. If it was genetic each parent would have two recessive genes for gay so their kids would have to be gay. However it's probably not that simple but the kids would still have a much higher chance of being gay.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm gonna reply to everyone since there's everyone saying the same thing: Going with the theory that homosexuality is a mutation, the mutation would happen in one person, then be passed down. When a mutation happens, the person is homosexual, therefore they don't reproduce to pass down ANY part of the gene, dominant or recessive.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Homosexuality has been attacked for hundreds of years. A lot of gay men pretend to be straight and... Oh yeah! They procreate.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I think it's kind of funny how everyone votes my comments down just because of my opinion.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I think the OP is getting confused because, AFTER the person gets the gay genes, they can't reproduce, and by that logic, the gay gene could not be passed on. I understand your thinking. There is one thing to remember though. Using the Punnet Square, you have GG, Gg, Gg, and gg. You have to realize that statistically, there should be about 2 straight kids with a recessive gay gene for every gay kid. Let's say you have 4 random kids. Let's say that one kid is completely straight, 2 kids are straight but have a recessive gay gene, and one kid is gay. The gay kid still exists, but the 2 straight kids with the recessive gay gene can still reproduce. THOSE two straight kids with the recessive gay gene can reproduce to have more straight kids with recessive gay genes AND a gay kid. Sorry if I'm misinterpreting.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How are some people born infertile?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

how does that relate to this post?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It relates to this post because it's the same principle. The parents carried the gene but it wasn't dominant.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I know very little about genetics, but I now actually understand how you can genetically be gay.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Someone could have a mutated gene that doesn't affect them, right? So someone could have a "mutated" recessive gene and it could get passed on.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How can you control and why does it matter who you love? Love is love and everyone deserves it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

What about peadophili? Is that gene passed down? No but it is the next step most likely. What about beastiality? Psychiatrists would write it off as a disorder. They don't have enough power to march in parades yet. We still look at them as forms of sexual perversion and tell the person that their lifestyle is wrong. I don't believe its genetics i think its in all of us if we open ourselves up to it and I've had friends who are gay that have said the same thing which is why its a tragety that its being pushed on the youth to try this out and find out who you are.

by Anonymous 11 years ago