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Jun. 27th, 2007 09:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quesarahA friend of mine heard an interesting article on NPR the other day, discussing various thoughts about biological basis of sexual orientation. The piece can be found here.
He threw it out to see what my thoughts were. I figured I'd repost them here, as well, in case anyone would like to discuss the topic.
That's an interesting piece. The first thing I thought of was that you could use my company's products to conduct a big genetic study on the topic -- if you could get funding for it. It sounds like a situation where, if there are causal genetic factors, there isn't one big factor that's "you have this, you're gay." It sounds more like, if you have factor A your chances of being homosexual increase by 10-15%; and the same for factors B-Z. So if you have a combination of 10 of those factors, yeah we'll be seeing you at Pride. I think that model could support a behavioral continuum, which is what I tend to personally believe based on experience and talking with lots of folks.
Which is interesting, because lots of "genetically complex" diseases are the same way. We're learning that Type 2 Diabetes is linked to a panel of genes, all of which increase risk for getting the disease by 20% or so over the population. Same thing with heart disease, prostate disease may be similar (but down to fewer genes with a higher relative risk), and there are studies looking at schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Crohn's disease. Basically, we're realizing that Mendel's rules of inheritance are like genetics' version of Newtonian physics; true, yes, but they only apply for simplified cases. The rules of inheritance for most genetic traits are, like the Einsteinian model physics, much more complex and subtle.
Which is a long answer to a short question. Meanwhile, C the sociology person is sitting here adamantly stressing the importance of social and cultural environment, and the distinction between same-sex identity versus same-sex behavior.
In short, no easy answer to this. And I suspect, no real answer for a very long time.
And also, I have two male hands, whatever that means. :)
He threw it out to see what my thoughts were. I figured I'd repost them here, as well, in case anyone would like to discuss the topic.
That's an interesting piece. The first thing I thought of was that you could use my company's products to conduct a big genetic study on the topic -- if you could get funding for it. It sounds like a situation where, if there are causal genetic factors, there isn't one big factor that's "you have this, you're gay." It sounds more like, if you have factor A your chances of being homosexual increase by 10-15%; and the same for factors B-Z. So if you have a combination of 10 of those factors, yeah we'll be seeing you at Pride. I think that model could support a behavioral continuum, which is what I tend to personally believe based on experience and talking with lots of folks.
Which is interesting, because lots of "genetically complex" diseases are the same way. We're learning that Type 2 Diabetes is linked to a panel of genes, all of which increase risk for getting the disease by 20% or so over the population. Same thing with heart disease, prostate disease may be similar (but down to fewer genes with a higher relative risk), and there are studies looking at schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Crohn's disease. Basically, we're realizing that Mendel's rules of inheritance are like genetics' version of Newtonian physics; true, yes, but they only apply for simplified cases. The rules of inheritance for most genetic traits are, like the Einsteinian model physics, much more complex and subtle.
Which is a long answer to a short question. Meanwhile, C the sociology person is sitting here adamantly stressing the importance of social and cultural environment, and the distinction between same-sex identity versus same-sex behavior.
In short, no easy answer to this. And I suspect, no real answer for a very long time.
And also, I have two male hands, whatever that means. :)
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Date: 2007-06-27 06:56 pm (UTC)But, seriously, the article's pretty well-written. Covers lots of studies, throws a lot of words at 'We still haven't got a frigging CLUE here.' But also says some interesting things about nature-nurture arguments and ambiguity of research results.
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Date: 2007-06-27 07:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-27 07:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-27 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-27 07:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-28 12:16 pm (UTC)I have 2 male hands too!
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Date: 2007-06-28 04:26 pm (UTC)