TY - JOUR
T1 - Large-scale GWAS reveals insights into the genetic architecture of same-sex sexual behavior
AU - Ganna, Andrea
AU - Verweij, Karin J H
AU - Nivard, Michel G
AU - Maier, Robert
AU - Wedow, Robbee
AU - Busch, Alexander S
AU - Abdellaoui, Abdel
AU - Guo, Shengru
AU - Sathirapongsasuti, J Fah
AU - Lichtenstein, Paul
AU - Lundström, Sebastian
AU - Långström, Niklas
AU - Auton, Adam
AU - Harris, Kathleen Mullan
AU - Beecham, Gary W
AU - Martin, Eden R
AU - Sanders, Alan R
AU - Perry, John R B
AU - Neale, Benjamin M
AU - Zietsch, Brendan P
AU - 23andMe Research Team
N1 - Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
PY - 2019/8/30
Y1 - 2019/8/30
N2 - Twin and family studies have shown that same-sex sexual behavior is partly genetically influenced, but previous searches for specific genes involved have been underpowered. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on 477,522 individuals, revealing five loci significantly associated with same-sex sexual behavior. In aggregate, all tested genetic variants accounted for 8 to 25% of variation in same-sex sexual behavior, only partially overlapped between males and females, and do not allow meaningful prediction of an individual's sexual behavior. Comparing these GWAS results with those for the proportion of same-sex to total number of sexual partners among nonheterosexuals suggests that there is no single continuum from opposite-sex to same-sex sexual behavior. Overall, our findings provide insights into the genetics underlying same-sex sexual behavior and underscore the complexity of sexuality.
AB - Twin and family studies have shown that same-sex sexual behavior is partly genetically influenced, but previous searches for specific genes involved have been underpowered. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on 477,522 individuals, revealing five loci significantly associated with same-sex sexual behavior. In aggregate, all tested genetic variants accounted for 8 to 25% of variation in same-sex sexual behavior, only partially overlapped between males and females, and do not allow meaningful prediction of an individual's sexual behavior. Comparing these GWAS results with those for the proportion of same-sex to total number of sexual partners among nonheterosexuals suggests that there is no single continuum from opposite-sex to same-sex sexual behavior. Overall, our findings provide insights into the genetics underlying same-sex sexual behavior and underscore the complexity of sexuality.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071485082&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.aat7693
DO - 10.1126/science.aat7693
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 31467194
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 365
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 6456
M1 - , eaat7693
ER -