A full genome association study (GWAS) on more than 470,000 people has revealed that a person's genetic variants do not significantly predict whether they will be in a sexual behavior oriented towards people of the same sex .

The findings, published in the journal 'Science', suggest that sexual behavior between same-sex people is influenced by a complex combination of genetic and environmental influences , similar to what is observed for most other human traits. There is therefore no single 'gay gene' , say the study authors, and instead there are thousands of genetic variants linked to the trait, each with small effects.

Researcher Andrea Ganna, from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and scientists from numerous countries in Europe, the United States and Australia , examined the genetics of people who reported whether they had ever had sexual behavior between same-sex people.

The authors analyzed the survey responses and conducted full genome association studies (GWAS) in data from more than 470,000 people from the United Kingdom Biobank and the American company 23andMe and could not find any pattern among the genetic variants that could be used for Predict or significantly identify a person's sexual behavior, they say.

"Many loci (a fixed position on a chromosome) with small individual effects contribute additionally to individual differences in predisposition to sexual behavior between same-sex people," the authors write, describing genetic patterns consistent with many personality traits. , behavior and physical.

In their study, only five genetic variants were "significantly" associated with same-sex behavior, and thousands more seem to be involved , but together, these variants only had small effects and are far from being predictive, the authors point out.

They also point out that some of these variants are linked to the biological pathways for sex hormones and smell , providing clues about the mechanisms that influence the behavior of the same sex.

Resist simplistic conclusions

"Our findings provide information on the biological foundations of sexual behavior between people of the same sex - Ganna says - but they also stress the importance of resisting simplistic conclusions because behavioral phenotypes are complex, because our genetic ideas are rudimentary and because there is a long history of misuse of genetic results for social purposes . "

Melinda Mills of the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford adds that "although they found particular genetic loci associated with same-sex behavior, when they combine the effects of these loci together in a comprehensive score, the effects are so small (less than 1 percent) that this genetic score could not be used reliably to predict the same-sex sexual behavior of an individual. "

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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