Dean hammer truth wins out on the gay gene

Together, we can try to understand what they tell us about our lives. He is known for his research on the role of genetics in sexual orientation and for a series of popular books and films that have changed scientific and public understandings and perceptions of human sexuality and gender.

But this is true of any living human being, regardless of affiliation or beliefs. Thirty years ago this summer, a paper published in the journal Science provided initial evidence for a genetic link to male homosexuality.

Over the years, Dean has appeared on a wide variety of TV programs including Nightline and Oprah. Dean Hamer Talks About Gay Gene Study and Research on Sexual Orientation Truth Wins Out K subscribers Subscribed. Dean Hamer (/ ˈheɪmər /; born May 29, ) is an American geneticist, author, and filmmaker.

While a biological basis for queerness would seem to support its wider acceptance that is clearly not the case, particularly with religious fundamentalists. InDean Hamer and colleagues at the NIH caused a minor sensation when they published a paper in Science, reporting a genetic association between homosexual orientation among American males and a locus on chromosome Xq The popular press immediately seized on the report: the ‘gay gene’ had been found.

Dean Hamer finally feels vindicated. The scientific study, and what it really demonstrated, became irrelevant as the culture wars roared into life. Dean’s second book, The God Gene, explored the relationship between faith and genetics.

Dean’s published his research into the so-called gay gene in The Science of Desire, a NY Times Notable Book of the Year.

Dean Hamer Wikipedia

More than 20 years ago, in a study that triggered both scientific and cultural controversy, the molecular biologist offered the first direct evidence of a "gay gene," by identifying a stretch on the X chromosome likely associated with homosexuality. But several subsequent studies called his finding into question.

The lead author, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health named Dean Hamer himself an openly gay manknew it would be controversial, but the science was sound. So what did that year-old paper really claim to show, and was it really as profound as the response would suggest?

Don 39 t ask

Despite the reserved claims of the paper, the media sensationalized the findings. But there has been progress, and it is important that we not only understand what we have learned, but own and celebrate it. The response was sound and fury.

The religious right condemned the work and Hamer as doing the work of Satan. Over the next few months, I will share a few of the scientific studies that have been done, sometimes in the face of strong opposition. This finding strongly suggests that somewhere near that marker was a human gene or genes that influence the development of homosexuality.

But there are a few of great interest, and they are worth knowing about. All the Hamer researchers did was look at the genetic markers in a group of gay men and non-gay men including sets of gay brotherstrying to find markers that associated most frequently with gay individuals.

Now the largest independent replication. Most of the markers sorted out randomly between groups, but one marker on the X-chromosome at a position called Xq28 was found to appear significantly more often in gay men.

A few observations.