For Sven Bocklandt of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA the immediate work may be on the gay gene but the real work is bigger than that:

Quote:

“Who cares about gay men or lesbian women? Sexual selection defines evolution and creation—such a major ­player in determining society—and we have no idea how it works. This is much larger than the gay gene; it’s about all sexual ­reproduction.”

His work started when he met Dean Hamer. Hamer had just published a study that claimed not only to have finally proved that male homosexuality was at least partially genetic but also to have pinpointed the stretch of chromosome where one of the genes involved resided. There he discovered a shared genetic marker, a patch of DNA called Xq28.

Hamer’s study is still controversial in part because for a long period NIH grant proposals that included words like “gay,” “condom,” or even “sexuality” were turned down, making it difficult to further explore and test in this area.

Whether or not a gay gene, a set of gay genes, or some other biological mechanism is ever found, one thing is clear: The environment a child grows up in has nothing to do with what makes most gay men gay. Two of the most convincing studies have proved conclusively that sexual orientation in men has a genetic cause.

Other tests are ongoing and maybe we might see some answers in the next few years. This may cause ethical concerns, and activists are on the alert for embryo testing and cures for homsexuality or abortions for homosexual babies. Still, if Geffen is right this could help us better understand how sexual reproduction and homosexuality fits into evolutionary biology.

See “The Real Story on Gay Genes: Homing in on the science of homosexuality—and sexuality itself” by Michael Abrams.