Beyond hormones: a novel hypothesis for the biological basis of male sexual orientation.
For the past several decades, research on the development of human sexual orientation has focused on the role of pre- or peri-natal androgen levels on brain development. However, there is no evidence that physiologically occurring variations in androgen exposure influence differences in sexual orientation. In this review, we discuss an alternative hypothesis involving genomic imprinting in the regulation of sex specific expression of genes regulating sexually dimorphic traits, including sexual orientation. A possible experiment to test this hypothesis is discussed.
Bocklandt
S
S
Laboratory of Biochemistry, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. sven.bocklandt@nih.gov
Hamer
D H
DH
D000728:Androgens / Q000502:physiology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology*
D000728:Androgens