No single ‘gay gene’ defines sexuality, finds largest-ever DNA analysis

The new statistical analysis revealed five points in our chromosomes, called loci, which appear closely linked to sexuality, though each individually has a ‘very small’ influence

Like size or intelligence, sexual attraction isn’t defined by one gene alone, but is instead the result of the complex interplay between multiple regions of the genome and hard to pin environmental factors. That’s the conclusion of an analysis conducted on half a million DNA profiles as part of a giant study by researchers in Europe and the United States published in the influential journal Science on Thursday.

Its authors hope to bury the notion, popularised in the 1990s, of the existence of an all powerful “gay gene” that determines sexuality in the way eye colour is defined. “We… found that it’s effectively impossible to predict an individual’s sexual behaviour from their genome,” said Ben Neale, a member of MIT and Harvard’s Broad Institute, one of several organisations involved in the work.

Sexual orientation does have a genetic component, say the researchers, confirming previous smaller studies, notably on twins. But the effect is mediated by a myriad of genes. “There is no single gay gene but rather the contribution of many small genetic effects scattered across the genome,” said Neale. Added to this are environmental factors: how a person is raised in childhood, where they live as an adult etc.

There’s much more to family histories than what DNA tests can reveal

Sometimes we’re looking in our blood for a map from our ancestors, when it has always been here, in how we talk to and love one another

Latest News: When I was growing up, someone was always asking a member of our family, “Where are you from?” Usually, it was my mother. She has high cheekbones, deep, wide-set eyes and light brown skin with prominent freckles. Since we grew up in an area with a small black population, her appearance drew more notice than I think it would have elsewhere. Whoever was asking usually wanted to claim her as their own.

Once, my sisters, our mother and I were in an epic, four-way fight in the car while holiday shopping. As our mother steered us out of the parking garage, the lot attendant waved her payment away. He was from Ethiopia and assumed she was too. He complimented her on what a great mother she must be — our windows had been rolled up, so he hadn’t heard the yelling.

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I don’t look like my mother. When I was younger and people asked, “Where are you from?” they usually wanted confirmation of my West Indian heritage. “My dad is from Barbados,” is how I usually answered the question of why I had the face I had

“Where are you from?” is a question we sometimes think we can find an answer to with DNA. One of my first jobs out of college was coordinating a community African-American genealogical class in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. It was run by a married couple from New Jersey, a former police officer and a former private investigator who dedicated their retirement to black genealogy. They had said in the class that DNA testing was a tricky thing for black people trying to trace their past. …Read More

Ancient DNA analysis shows the surprising role of cheese in human evolution

Humans are not only able to manipulate their food to make it edible, but that what we consume can also lead to new adaptations in our biology

Health News : A solid white mass found in a broken jar in an Ancient Egyptian tomb has turned out to be the world’s oldest example of solid cheese.

Probably made mostly from sheep or goats milk, the cheese was found several years ago by archaeologists in the ancient tomb of Ptahmes, who was a high-ranking Egyptian official. The substance was identified after the archaeology team carried out biomolecular identification of its proteins.

This 3,200-year-old find is exciting because it shows that the Ancient Egyptian’s shared our love of cheese – to the extent it was given as a funerary offering. But not only that, it also fits into archaeology’s growing understanding of the importance of dairy to the development of the human diet in Europe.

Dairy in diets

About two-thirds of the world’s population is lactose intolerant. So although dairy products are a daily part of the diet for many living in Europe, Northern India and North America, drinking milk in adulthood was only possible from the Bronze Age, over the last 4,500 years.

For most of human history, adults lost the ability to consume milk after infancy – and the same is true of people who are lactose intolerant today. After weaning, people with lactose intolerance can no longer produce the enzyme lactase. This is necessary to break down the lactose sugars in fresh milk into compounds that can be easily digested. People with lactose intolerance experience unpleasant symptoms if they consume dairy products such as bloating, flatulence and diarrhoea.

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