It's not a choice!

Genetic Regions Influencing Male Sexual Orientation Identified



January 27, 2005 -- In the first-ever study combing the entire human genome for genetic determinants of male sexual orientation, a University of Illinois at Chicago researcher has identified several areas that appear to influence whether a man is heterosexual or gay.



The study, which is currently available online, will be published in the March issue of the biomedical journal Human Genetics.

UIC's Brian Mustanski, working with colleagues at the National Institutes of Health, found stretches of DNA that appeared to be linked to sexual orientation on three different chromosomes in the nucleus of cells of the human male.

"There is no one 'gay' gene," said Mustanski, a psychologist in the UIC department of psychiatry and lead author of the study. "Sexual orientation is a complex trait, so it's not surprising that we found several DNA regions involved in its expression."

"Our best guess is that multiple genes, potentially interacting with environmental influences, explain differences in sexual orientation."

The genomes of 456 men from 146 families with two or more gay brothers were analyzed.

While earlier studies had focused solely on the X chromosome, one of the two sex chromosomes, the present study examined all 22 pairs of non-sex chromosomes in addition to the X chromosome. The other sex chromosome, called Y, was not explored because it is not believed to contain many genes.

Identical stretches of DNA on three chromosomes -- chromosomes 7, 8 and 10 -- were found to be shared in about 60 percent of the gay brothers in the study, compared to about 50 percent expected by chance. The region on chromosome 10 correlated with sexual orientation only if it was inherited from the mother.

"Our study helps to establish that genes play an important role in determining whether a man is gay or heterosexual," said Mustanski. "The next steps will be to see if these findings can be confirmed and to identify the particular genes within these newly discovered chromosomal sequences that are linked to sexual orientation."

Other researchers involved in the study were Dean Hamer, at the National Institutes of Health; Nicholas Schork and Caroline Nievergelt, at the University of California at San Diego; Michael DuPree, at Pennsylvania State University; and Sven Bocklandt, at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The study was supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.

Moving substantially everything here in the apartment in anticipation of the carpeting guys, who are late or not depending on which time estimate you go with. I have the living room and dining room done, and now, have to set upon my bedroom, which won't take real long.

Of course, pulling all of this stuff out and under furniture makes me realize that it ALL has to be cleaned before it gets put back.

Okay. Everything is pulled out of orbit for the anticipated arrival of the carpeting guys. Having moved a number of pieces of furniture and some other stuff, oof, the carpeting in here is DISGUSTING.

I hope that the new carpeting adds a freshness that has been absent in the air here for some time.

I have a TON of crap! I knew this, but .. urgh.

I wonder how long this day is going to take to put everything BACK. I can't shower or anything until this is all done.

Oh, my. Well, we'll just have to see where this day takes us.

This is just crappy. I had invited .. six? People over for dinner. I knew that L. couldn't come, as he had to work. SD said "it looked good for him coming," but I haven't heard a peep out of him since this morning. T is off trying to get back with his boyfriend, I'm sure, and TM said he WOULD BE HERE AT 5:00 but had to leave to make a date with some child he met at his apartment complex.

And no one is here.

I have to begin to take down the fragile stuff here in the apartment tonight. Maybe I'll just drag my carcass out of bed at 6:00 am, and start it in the morning. The carpeteers come at 8:00ish, and I need to have the living room/dining room cleared of breakables by then.

Two DVDs to choose from tonight - I think I'll watch the classic "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and see how things go.

Dinner is spinach salad with tangerine slices and walnuts. Yummy!

Just had a dream about Joel, and threatening weirdness. It involved my Aunt Donna, television characters, some small town, washing machines, a crowded, small bedroom, and ..

very bizarre.

I just canceled dinner with Nancy and Nicole. I wonder if that was the right thing to do?

I have to walk these dogs. And think about what tonight will hold.

Interesting morning. I surfed through a.net and found six images that I thought would be good for the website. I sent them all requests for license, and so far have had one positive reply.

I've done a bunch of talking, and not a bunch of acting so far. I have to run out here in a bit, buy 1099 forms and W-2 forms, run to the county courthouse, and pick up some mailing labels.

Waiting to hear from T. as to what the heck's going on.

interesting. I had a feeling that things were not all what they were cracked up to be in my friend T's relationship, and today - he tells me that they just broke up. I'm not going to get into the whole whether T got taken for a ride question - but, I've offered to let him move in here. I think he's going to take me up on that tomorrow.

Got a LOT of stuff done today. Thank God! Worked a bit on designing my drdivo website, which is REALLY behind schedule. Have some more tax returns coming in this week yet - where IS my stuff? I guess I'll need to go BUY 1099 forms for clients. The IRS order hasn't been filled.

They'll probably show up in February.

Okay, so it's time to hit the hay. Will I EVER watch these stupid Netflix that I've got here?

Okay, it's verified. Ruby is INDEED paid off. I've called to cancel out worry and fret, and she's paid for, and they're processing the lien release.

Waiting at bank #3 (of this morning's four bank runs) for the church board president to meet me, that I can hand her a package of documents that need to be photocopied. Then, breeze by my bank, and then back to the center of civilization to meet Lance for lunch.

Ruby is paid for. In full. Done, paid, over with, she's mine, the title will be in the mail within a few weeks. This is the first time since 1977 that I haven't had car payments. Amazing. I went online last night, and found a lightly used Sony CDX C90 to have installed in her. I'll have the OnStar installed now, the upgraded stereo, and drive her until the wheels fall off.

My brain was SO engaged in cross talk the whole way to the bank this morning - they wouldn't cash the check, I'd have an accident, someone would rob me, the lender wouldn't accept the money, WHATEVER. It seems that the old way of being was fighting being proven wrong with all the energy it could muster.

Thanks to Lisa, Rosita, Donna, Darlene, my dad, everyone who was pulling for me to resolve this without having to buy another car or otherwise refinance this little note.