“Being gay is a choice” is a phrase that is often used by right-wing conservatives, but what if it isn’t so. Is it possible that the “gay gene” that causes humans to have same sex attraction exists in conjunction with pheromones? It is possible for there to be some genetic factor with pheromones that causes homosexuality at a minor scale compared to heterosexuality. Pheromones in humans have long been a mysterious concept with little evidence to prove, although it is present in other animals of the animal kingdom. Discovering if the “gay gene” actually exist in conjunction with pheromones would be fundamental to society because it would help ease discrimination on those of the LGBT community by providing scientific proof that being gay is not a choice.
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The “gay gene” is a gene that codes for homosexual preference. Dean Hamer, scientist emeritus at the National Institutes of Health, published a study in 1993 hypothesizing that a region of the X chromosome might play a role in a man’s sexuality, the Xq28 gene. With this information he began an experiment 20 years ago studying 38 homosexual brothers and that’s when he confirmed the existence of the Xq28 gene. This makes me beg the question if he ran a control group considered “straight” people. Since Hamer wasn’t funded properly, he had a small test group which loses credibility of his findings. However Hamer is performing a replication of this experiment currently with a study group of 400 pair of homosexual brothers. It’s been hypothesized that the “gay gene” in men is an X-linked gene because it would make sense why a group that has fewer offspring still has a trait that is apparent, homosexuality, in society. It’s believed that this trait increases a female’s fertility (Survick 2014). Discovering if the “gay gene” has some advantage to human population, such as increasing a female’s fertility, makes it more plausible that this gene
The “gay gene” is a gene that codes for homosexual preference. Dean Hamer, scientist emeritus at the National Institutes of Health, published a study in 1993 hypothesizing that a region of the X chromosome might play a role in a man’s sexuality, the Xq28 gene. With this information he began an experiment 20 years ago studying 38 homosexual brothers and that’s when he confirmed the existence of the Xq28 gene. This makes me beg the question if he ran a control group considered “straight” people. Since Hamer wasn’t funded properly, he had a small test group which loses credibility of his findings. However Hamer is performing a replication of this experiment currently with a study group of 400 pair of homosexual brothers. It’s been hypothesized that the “gay gene” in men is an X-linked gene because it would make sense why a group that has fewer offspring still has a trait that is apparent, homosexuality, in society. It’s believed that this trait increases a female’s fertility (Survick 2014). Discovering if the “gay gene” has some advantage to human population, such as increasing a female’s fertility, makes it more plausible that this gene