Abstract
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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | eaat7693 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-8 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Science |
| Volume | 365 |
| Issue number | 6456 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Aug 2019 |
Funding
We thank N. J. Cox, M. C. Keller, and E. S. Lander for carefully reading and commenting on the manuscript. We thank P. Turley and R. Walters for constructive discussion about MTAG. This research was conducted by using the UK Biobank Resource under application 25995. We thank all cohort participants for making this study possible. Funding: A.R.S. received funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development specifically to investigate the genetics of sexual orientation: R01HD041563 (A.R.S., principal investigator) and R21HD080410 (A.R.S. and E.R.M., multiple principal investigators). E.R.M., G.W.B., and S.G. are also supported by R21HD080410. No other member of the group received funding specifically for this study, but members of our team received salary funding from organizations as well as our own universities. B.P.Z. received funding from The Australian Research Council (FT160100298). A.G. was supported by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (2015.0327) and the Swedish Research Council (2016-00250). A.G., R.M., and B.M.N. were supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant 1R01MH107649-03 (to B.M.N.). R.W. was supported by the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (DGE 1144083). Any opinion, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. M.G.N. is supported by ZonMw grants 849200011 and 531003014 from the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development. This research used data from Add Health, a program project directed by K.M.H. (principal investigator) and designed by J. R. Udry, P. S. Bearman, and K.M.H. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD031921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). This research used Add Health GWAS data funded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) grants R01 HD073342 to K.M.H. (principal investigator) and R01 HD060726 to K.M.H., J. D. Boardman, and M. B. McQueen (multiple principal investigators). The genetic part of the CATSS study was supported by grant 2014-0834 from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research. We thank the research participants of 23andMe and the other contributing cohorts for making this study possible. Collaborators for the 23andMe Research Team are M. Agee,
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Science Foundation | DGE 1144083 |
| National Institutes of Health | 1R01MH107649-03 |
| National Institute of Child Health and Human Development | R21HD080410 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | P01-HD031921 |
| Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development | 2014-0834, R01 HD060726, R01 HD073342, R01HD041563 |
| Australian Research Council | FT160100298 |
| ZonMw | 531003014, 849200011 |
| Forskningsrådet för Arbetsliv och Socialvetenskap | |
| Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse | 2015.0327 |
| Vetenskapsrådet | 2016-00250 |
