Homosexuality and DNA
Homosexuality and DNA
Honors Biology
The human X and Y chromosomes have been completely sequenced. The X chromosome contains 153 million base pairs and harbors a total of 1168 genes. While the Y chromosome contains only 50 million base pairs and is estimated to contain about 251 genes. Educational institutions such as Baylor University, the Max Planck Institute, the Sanger Institute, Washington University in St. Louis, and others have spent countless hours and millions of research dollars analyzing these unique chromosomes. As the data began to pour in, they allowed scientists to construct gene maps—using actual sequences from the Human Genome Project. And yet, neither the map for the X nor the Y chromosome contains any “gay gene.”(Harrub,2003)
Homosexuality has been practiced for thousands of years. Homosexuality is defined as sexual relations between the same genders. Homosexuality has been identified as sinful behavior in most cultures. Attitudes stemming from religious and philosophical ideas about what behaviors are in accord with nature and natural law. Today attitudes towards homosexuality are changing from hostility to tolerance.
Nevertheless, the topic has become one of great controversies of the twenty-first century. On the one hand, gay activists and many liberals regard homosexuality as an innate condition; they believe that homosexual behavior should be accepted as within the range of the diverse ways human beings express sexual love. They believe society should protect homosexuals as a civil rights issue. On the other side, many conservatives and religious people regard homosexuality as a deviant state and same-sex relations as outside the norm of what should be acceptable behavior. They regard homosexual behavior as a sin and believe society should treat it as a moral issue. But do they have anything to do with each other.(Lane,2010)
The relationship between biology and sexual orientation is a subject of
Honors Biology
The human X and Y chromosomes have been completely sequenced. The X chromosome contains 153 million base pairs and harbors a total of 1168 genes. While the Y chromosome contains only 50 million base pairs and is estimated to contain about 251 genes. Educational institutions such as Baylor University, the Max Planck Institute, the Sanger Institute, Washington University in St. Louis, and others have spent countless hours and millions of research dollars analyzing these unique chromosomes. As the data began to pour in, they allowed scientists to construct gene maps—using actual sequences from the Human Genome Project. And yet, neither the map for the X nor the Y chromosome contains any “gay gene.”(Harrub,2003)
Homosexuality has been practiced for thousands of years. Homosexuality is defined as sexual relations between the same genders. Homosexuality has been identified as sinful behavior in most cultures. Attitudes stemming from religious and philosophical ideas about what behaviors are in accord with nature and natural law. Today attitudes towards homosexuality are changing from hostility to tolerance.
Nevertheless, the topic has become one of great controversies of the twenty-first century. On the one hand, gay activists and many liberals regard homosexuality as an innate condition; they believe that homosexual behavior should be accepted as within the range of the diverse ways human beings express sexual love. They believe society should protect homosexuals as a civil rights issue. On the other side, many conservatives and religious people regard homosexuality as a deviant state and same-sex relations as outside the norm of what should be acceptable behavior. They regard homosexual behavior as a sin and believe society should treat it as a moral issue. But do they have anything to do with each other.(Lane,2010)
The relationship between biology and sexual orientation is a subject of