On the 7th of this month a provisional research article was published online in BMC Genetics. BMC or Biomedical Central is a large publisher of open-access, peer-reviewed online journals of which BMC Genetics is one of their many journals.
What makes this article remarkable? Well, the Korean research team which published the article seem to have found a gene which changes the mating affinity of female rats. Some interesting neurobiological finds were made as well.
The research created a line of mutant rats lacking a particular gene - fucose mutarotase (FucM). Those female mice without this gene displayed a preference for female urine as well as mounting a normal female partner.
The team noticed that the -/- mutants also had a reduced number of tyrosine hydroxylase neurons of the anteroventral periventricular nucleus compared to the control rats. The AVPv region and the hormonal receptors there are heavily involved in development of mating behavior. Tyrosine hydroxylase neurons are involved in dimorphic mating behavior as well.
However, this may all be the result of a developmental change, specifically a reduction of fucosylated serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in the embryo. AFP isn't necessary for the embryo to develop normally however, it is important in regard to female fertility.
Taken together the evidence seems to point to the possibility of the FucM gene in the development of a brain which prefers the same sex. However, as is par for the course in science, reproducibility of these findings will go a long way to validate this research. We shall wait and see.
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And the people at the hospital told you it was a gay fad?
July 25, 2010 at 12:08 p.m.freethinker
July 25, 2010 at 11:32 a.m.HARRIS COUNTY HOSPITAL ER STAFF
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No, Richard Gere is not a culprit here, but it did happen with others.
GOP, where in the world did you hear that there was a gay fad in the 80's involving gerbils? I don't think so. A certain actor was accused of doing something weird with a gerbil but he denied it on national television and said it was just a nasty rumour that someone spread about him. And he wasn't even gay.
July 25, 2010 at 7:57 a.m.Sounds like the worse abuse of gerbils since that '80s gay men fad.
July 24, 2010 at 11:59 p.m.@pilot: Yes, I don't think they quite thought through the abbreviation for that gene...or maybe they did. The abbreviation for fucose, unknown is FucU - I think it just shows that scientists do have a sense of humor.
As for the research team, they are from South Korea. They all work at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
July 24, 2010 at 10:50 p.m.