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HUMAN BEHAVIOR

New support for ‘gay gene’

Replication of 1993 study highlights same region on
X chromosome, but some still call evidence inconclusive
By Kelly Servick would have bet against our being able to
replicate it.”

D
ean Hamer finally feels vindicated. In 2004, Bailey began to recruit families
More than 20 years ago, in a study with at least two gay male siblings, plan-
that triggered both scientific and ning to perform genetic linkage analysis,
cultural controversy, the molecu- which searches family members for genetic
lar biologist offered the first direct markers consistently inherited by people
APRIL 18-22, 2015 evidence of a “gay gene” by iden- with a common trait. DNA analysis re-

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PENNSYLVANIA CONVENTION CENTER
PHILADELPHIA, PA tifying a stretch on the X chromosome vealed markers linked to homosexuality on
www.AACR.org likely associated with homosexuality. Sev- both Xq28 and a region of chromosome 8,
eral subsequent studies failed to confirm which Hamer had also highlighted.
Hamer’s suspicion that a gene there subtly Psychiatric geneticist Kenneth Kendler
influences a person’s predisposition to be of Virginia Commonwealth University in
gay, but the largest independent replica- Richmond, who is an editor at Psychologi-
Join us in tion effort so far, looking at 409 pairs of cal Medicine, says it was somewhat surpris-
gay brothers, has now fingered the same ing to receive a genetic linkage study. The
Philadelphia region on the X. “When you first find some- approach has been largely superseded by
for the most thing out of the entire genome, you’re al- so-called genome-wide association (GWA)
ways wondering if it was just by chance,” studies, which can home in on specific
comprehensive says Hamer, who con- genes that contribute to
cancer research meeting ducted research at the a trait. “Seeing linkage
in the world...the AACR National Institutes of studies in this world of
Health in Bethesda, “When you first find GWAs is rare,” Kendler
Annual Meeting 2015! Maryland, before for- something out of the says, but he maintains
mally retiring in 2011. that the study “really
The new research, he entire genome, you’re moves the field along.”
This must-attend meeting covering says, “clarifies the mat- always wondering if Still, Sanders ac-
every aspect of cancer will enable ter absolutely.” knowledges that at least
you to: Others, however, con- it was just by chance.” one journal rejected the
tinue to doubt Hamer’s Dean Hamer, molecular biologist work. And geneticist
• Learn about new advances in result, contending that Neil Risch of the Uni-
the field the latest evidence is weak. And the study versity of California, San Francisco, notes
still doesn’t identify a specific gene whose that the linkages Bailey and Sanders report
• Connect with the international role in homosexuality could be more closely don’t rise to statistical significance. Risch
community examined. collaborated on a 1999 study that found no
Back in 1993, Hamer’s original study led association of homosexuality with Xq28.
• Foster new collaborations
some to speculate that a genetic test for Sanders admits that the strongest linkage
• Obtain feedback on research homosexuality would soon be at hand and identified from an isolated genetic marker
could lead to more discrimination. Others on Xq28 doesn’t clear the threshold for sig-
attacked the premise that being gay has a nificance. But he contends that the case is
biological basis. “For a long while, if you bolstered by neighboring markers, which
Register Today! Googled my name, you would find right- appear to be shared at higher rates between
Take advantage of the lowest wing religious Web pages saying that I was pairs of gay brothers. “The convergence of
rates available. a liar,” Hamer says. the evidence pointed towards” Xq28 and
The new analysis, published online chromosome 8, he asserts.
Become a Member! this week in Psychological Medicine, was Bailey and Sanders may soon have more
Join the AACR and receive a
led by J. Michael Bailey, a psychologist data to back their claim—or refute it. They
discount on registration.
at Northwestern University, and Alan are now working on a GWA study that in-
Sanders, a psychiatrist at NorthShore Uni- cludes genetic data from the just-published
versity HealthSystem Research Institute, work plus DNA samples from more than
We look forward to both in Evanston, Illinois. Bailey says he 1000 additional gay men. Based on the re-
went into the project skeptical, largely be- sults published this week, “it looks promis-
welcoming you cause Hamer had studied just 38 pairs of ing for there being genes in both of these
to our hometown of gay brothers. “I thought that Dean did a regions,” Bailey says, “but until somebody
Philadelphia, PA! fine but small study, but if I had to bet, I finds a gene, we don’t know.” ■

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