Jun 18, 2008 02:26 PM
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In the ongoing and quixotic quest to discover whether there is a "gay gene," scientists believe they've stumbled across something related. It's a gene that shows up in gay men and ultra-fertile women. A recent study of families in Italy that contained gay men has revealed that often the mothers and sisters of gay men have more children than the women in families with straight men. Does that mean gay men, who tend to have fewer children than straight ones, balance out these ultra-fertile women? Or does it mean scientists have stumbled upon a slut gene that makes both women and men into mega-man-lovers?
According to LiveScience:
[Lead researcher Andrea] Camperio-Ciani and his team hypothesize that the genes they modeled may cause people of both sexes to be extremely attracted to men, which would lead men with the genes to pursue relationships with other men, while causing women with the genes to have more sexual partners, and become pregnant slightly more often than an average woman.
Scientists involved in the study were also quick to point out that there is no single genetic cause for homosexuality, and that environmental factors are almost certainly involved as well. They also are still completely clueless about female homosexuality. Researchers have yet to figure out what causes lesbianism, and so far nobody has figured out a form of gene therapy I can use to make straight girls want me.
Sexually Antagonistic Selection in Human Male Sexuality [PLoS One via LiveScience]
Send an email to Annalee Newitz, the author of this post, at annalee@io9.com.
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