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‘Gay gene’ search reveals not one but many – and no way to predict sexuality

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'Gay gene' search reveals not one but many – and no way to predict sexuality
Photo by Vinicius Vilela from Pexels

The biology of same-sex attraction seems to involve a host of genes.

It has long been clear that a person’s sexual preference – whether they prefer male or female sexual partners, or both – is influenced by his or her genetic makeup. The most straightforward evidence for this is that sexual preference is more likely to be the same in identical twin pairs, whose genetic makeup is identical, than in non-identical twin pairs, who share only around 50% of their genetic makeup.

What has been elusive is knowledge of what specific gene, or genes, are involved. A 1993 study found male sexual preference was influenced by a particular gene on the X chromosome, which the media naturally dubbed the “gay gene”. But a later study did not replicate this finding, and subsequent follow-ups yielded mixed results.


Read more: Born this way? An evolutionary view of ‘gay genes’


The problem was that these studies were too small to draw confident conclusions. There are millions of parts of our DNA that commonly differ between people. That means finding the genes associated with sexual preference is like finding a needle in a haystack.

So an international team of researchers, which I led, set out to tackle this problem. Our results are published today in Science.

Forceful approach

Our approach was simple: brute force. All else being equal, the larger a study, the more confident we can be in the results. So instead of sampling a few hundred or a few thousand individuals – as in previous genetic studies on sexual preference – we used a sample of nearly half a million.

To obtain such a large sample, we used data that had been collected as part of much broader projects. These included DNA data and responses to questionnaires from participants in the UK (as part of the UK Biobank study) and the US (as part of data collected from customers of the commercial ancestry firm 23andMe who consented to answering research questions about sexuality).

The downside of using these huge data sets was that the studies were not specifically designed to find genes for sexual preference, so we were limited by the questions participants happened to have been asked about their sexual behaviour. For both UK Biobank and 23andMe, participants reported whether they had ever had a same-sex sexual partner.

A person’s DNA essentially consists of millions of letters of code, and the letters differ among different individuals. So, to make a complicated story short, the next step was to test at every DNA location whether one letter was more common in participants who reported any same-sex partners than in those who reported only opposite-sex partners.

Not one gene but many

What we found is that there is no one “gay gene” – instead, there are many, many genes that influence a person’s likelihood of having had same-sex partners.

Individually, each of these genes has only a very small effect, but their combined effect is substantial. We could be statistically confident about five specific DNA locations; we could also tell with high confidence that there are hundreds or thousands of other locations that also play a role, although we couldn’t pinpoint where they all are.

Participants in the 23andMe data set answered questions not only about their sexual behaviour, but also attraction and identity. Taking all the genetic effects in combination, we showed that the same genes underlie variation in same-sex sexual behaviour, attraction, and identity.

Some of the genes that we could be sure about gave us clues about the biological underpinnings of sexual preference. One of those genes, as well as being associated with same-sex sexual behaviour in men, was also associated with male pattern balding. It is also near a gene involved in sexual differentiation – the process of masculinisation and feminisation of biological males and females, respectively. Sex hormones are involved in both baldness and sexual differentiation, so our finding implies that sex hormones may be involved in sexual preference too.

Other findings further reinforced the extreme complexity of the biology underlying sexual preference. First, genetic influences only partly overlapped in males and females, suggesting the biology of same-sex behaviour is different in males and females.

Second, we established that, on the genetic level, there is no single continuum from gay to straight. What’s more likely is that there are genes that predispose to same-sex attraction and genes that predispose to opposite-sex attraction, and these vary independently.

Because of the complexity of the genetic influences, we cannot meaningfully predict a person’s sexual preference from their DNA – nor was this our aim.

Possible misinterpretations

Scientific findings are often complex, and it is easy for them to be misrepresented in the media. Sexual preference has a long history of controversy and public misunderstanding, so it is especially important to convey a nuanced and accurate picture of our results.

But people tend to want black-and-white answers about complex issues. Accordingly, people may react to our findings by saying either: “No gay gene? I guess it’s not genetic after all!” or “Many genes? I suppose sexual preference is genetically fixed!” Both of these interpretations are wrong.


Read more: Differences between men and women are more than the sum of their genes


Sexual preference is influenced by genes but not determined by them. Even genetically identical twins often have completely different sexual preferences. We have little idea, though, what the non-genetic influences are, and our results say nothing about this.

To answer further questions the public might have about the study, we created a website with answers to frequently asked questions, and an explanatory video. In developing this website we drew on feedback from LGBTQ outreach and advocacy groups, dozens of LGBTQ rights advocates and community members, and workshops arranged by Sense about Science where representatives of the public, activists, and researchers discussed the results of the study.The Conversation

Brendan Zietsch, ARC Future Fellow, The University of Queensland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Health

5 best booty exercises for men to strengthen and shape their glutes

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5 best booty exercises for men to strengthen and shape their glutes

We all know that big, round butts have made a resurgence in popularity in the last few years, thanks in no small part to social media and physique-envy. Where once people craved small booties like runway models and having a “big ass” was the worst insult one could muster, we’re now a society proud of some extra junk in our trunks.

And if you’re like many people who exercise regularly, on a quest for a plumper peach (and health and overall fitness, of course), then you aren’t alone.

5 best booty exercises for men to strengthen and shape their glutes

But did you know that aside from filling out your pants easier, the advantages of having strong glutes are actually quite innumerable? For example, strong glutes can decrease your risk of injury in your knees, hamstrings, groin, and lower-back.

If you’re looking to up your “booty gains” and round and firm your butt, we’ve put together a list of the 5 best exercises to do just that with examples of strength training.

1. Squats

The benefits of squats are many, especially because they’re great for targeting all kinds of muscle groups. They’re especially effective, however, when it comes to rounding out and shaping your butt muscles.

There are plenty of variations of squats, but the barbell squat “allows you to hit the glutes and hamstrings with more volume…”

5 best booty exercises for men to strengthen and shape their glutes

When you squat, you want to make sure you have proper squat technique, while focusing on your stance and always putting safety first.

Check out the video below to see how to do a squat:

If you’re looking for different kinds of squats, you can also try out the goblet squat and bottoms-up squat.

2. Hip Thrusts

While fun to do because they’re quite sexually suggestive, hip thrusts are a definite must when building your butt muscles. The barbell hip thrust, as demonstrated in the video below, involves sitting with a bench behind you and placing a weighted barbell across your hips.

These are also known as Bridge and Weighted Hip Extensions.

3. Lunges

Honestly, lunges are the exercise I hate the most but always leave my legs feeling the best afterward. Lunges focus heavily on your quads, but it’s your glutes that help you “return to a standing position.”

They’re fairly simple to execute, as you can see in this video below on how to properly squat.

But make sure you avoid a few common lunge mistakes, like the “tightrope lunge,” the “heel pop,” the “upper-body drop,” and more.

5 best booty exercises for men to strengthen and shape their glutes

4. Deadlift

Referred to as “the king of mass gaining exercises” by Bodybuilding.com, I’d think that’s enough of a ringing endorsement to convince you to add deadlifts to your gym routine.

In fact, deadlifts aid in developing core strength because it assists your body “in almost every movement and position.” It’s also the best movement for developing strong glute muscles.

If you’re curious to try this exercise out, watch the video below to see how to properly do a barbell deadlift:

5. Bulgarian Split Squats

According to Bodybuilding.com, positioning is key when it comes down to how to do a Bulgarian split squat properly because the farther your front leg is in front of you, “the more emphasis you place on your glutes.”

Extra

Strength training is a vital part of any fitness routine. Why? It reduces fat, increases lean muscle mass, and burns calories more efficiently. According to Mayo Clinic, the benefits of strength training include developing strong bones, managing your weight and chronic conditions, and more.

Before you start, make sure you’re prepared and educated and that you understand the science and practice of strength training. Always speak to a doctor or fitness professional who can guide you and assist you in creating a strength training workout plan. For yourself, learn about how much weight is best for strength training, which strength training exercises are best, and anything else you might not be certain of.

Note: The tips in this article should not be taken as medical or professional advice. Always consult a doctor or fitness professional before engaging in any fitness activity.

This article was originally published on January 27, 2019.

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Lifestyle

This Grindr chat between two bottoms is all kinds of right

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This Grindr chat between two bottoms is all kinds of right
Featured photos: Pexels

Not all Grindr experiences are horrible. This chat between two bottoms on the gay social app prove just that.

In screenshots shared by Twitter user @dps_moira, two gay men exchange the quickest of messages that, while simple, have upped my belief that there is humanity on an app that’s typically more of a stomping ground of “masc4masc” action.

Along with the Twitter caption, “I really hope he is doing ok,” the chat went like this:

#1: Hi. Are you a top?

#2: Hey

#2: No sorry

#1: Never. never ever apologise for being yourself – that’s how the straights kept us down for a hundred years

Related | A pilot used Grindr to hit on one of his passengers mid-flight

To no one’s surprise, the tweet was a hit online, quickly amassing nearly 100K likes and over 16K retweets, with one user replying, “hope he found his top.”

And that’s that on that. Kindness is alive and well. Gay rights!

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Health

5 basic reasons sleeping naked is the way to go

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5 basic reasons sleeping naked is the way to go
James Barr/Unsplash

We all know how good sleeping naked feels and anyone who tells you they hate it is probably lying. But as it turns out, bedtime without the extra layering of pants and underwear can mean a few really good things for your body.

A survey from Mattress Advisor has found that 65 percent of millennials prefer sleeping naked, while 69 percent of people say sleeping naked is more comfortable, 54 percent say it’s far more relaxing, and 54 percent say they sleep better overall.

5 reasons you need to be sleeping naked

1. Protect your sperm and your testicles

So apparently we can all just throw our underwear away because according to Atlantic City-based urologist Brian Steixner, M.D., sleeping in your underwear can actually increase your likelihood of getting an infection. Since bacteria thrive in warm, moist, areas, your underwear that keeps that heat and moisture in need to go.

Plus, Allan Pacey, a leading fertility expert and researcher at the University of Sheffield in England, told the New York Post, “We have known for some time that men who increase the temperature of their testicles, either through the heat exposure at work or by wearing tight underwear, have poorer semen quality compared to men whose testicles are cooler.”

 

2. Better sleep quality

We all know how hard it is to fall asleep if you’re too hot, right? Since your core body temperatures need to drop by about half a degree or so for you to fall asleep, shedding those briefs before bed means that your body can cool down quicker. And while you may not lose sleep overall if you’re too warm, you will notice you’re lacking in that really important deep sleep that leaves you feeling refreshed when you wake.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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3. Burns calories

A 2014 study in the journal Diabetes found that sleeping in a cold bedroom may activate brown fat cells (a healthy fat that’s stored in your neck and burns calories in order to generate body heat).

Two months into the four-month study, in which five healthy, young men slept in a climate-controlled bedroom for four months, brown fat volume had almost doubled. Those same men burned more calories throughout the day and their insulin sensitivity improved.

Related | Oh look, Colton Haynes is naked and covered in pain in new Instagram photos

4. Increase oxytocin production

It’s no secret that laying naked with your partner is a good thing. But it can actually have some physiological benefits. Skin-to-skin contact can trigger the release of oxytocin, which can protect the heart by lowering blood pressure, reducing anxiety, and boosting your immune system.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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5. Give your love life a boost

According to a survey of 1,000 British adults, couples who sleep in the nude tend to have happier love lives. The survey found that “57 percent of nude sleepers were happy with their relationship, compared with 48 percent of pajama-wearers.”

Article originally published November 18, 2018
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