Gay Gene Found in Chicago!

By Aaron Bailey in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 28, 2005 2:12PM

Roaming the streets of Boystown, researchers have discovered the first-ever gay gene. Actually, University of Illinois at Chicago researcher Brian Mustanski isolated three bits and pieces of the human genome that appear to influence sexual orientation.

In his research -- which looked at families with two or more gay brothers -- the three chromosomes are shared 60% of the time by gay brothers compared to about 50% in non-homo siblings.

"Sexual orientation is a complex trait, so it's not surprising that we found several DNA regions involved in its expression... Our best guess is that multiple genes, potentially interacting with environmental influences, explain differences in sexual orientation," said Mustanski.

Previously, Mustanski has published papers with such titles as "Getting wired: exploiting the Internet for the collection of valid sexuality data" in the Journal of Sex Research. That's certainly why Chicagoist "exploits" the Internet.

At this time, it's still unsure whether scientists will be able to perfect a technique for extracting the three "gay" chromosomes. If successful, you can bet Bad Boys novelty shop on Halsted will sell them in fabulous rainbow colors.

Image: BioMelt systems from Varian