Scientists Think They Know Why People Are Gay

They say the answer lies in epigenetics.

Researchers from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis are saying they have found the source of homosexuality.

NY Daily News writes:

The answer may lie in epigenetics, or how the expression of genes is controlled by “temporary switches” known as epi-marks...

Sex-specific epi-marks are usually “erased” from generation to generation.

But when they do not disappear, they can be passed from father to daughter or mother to son, resulting in homosexuality in children, scientists suspect.

“Transmission of sexually antagonistic epi-marks between generations is the most plausible evolutionary mechanism of the phenomenon of human homosexuality,” Sergey Gavrilets, the study’s co-author, said in a release.

"These epi-marks protect fathers and mothers from excess or underexposure to testosterone — when they carry over to opposite-sex offspring, it can cause the masculinization of females or the feminization of males,” William Rice, the study’s lead author, tells U.S. News & World Report.

Opposing scientist say this theory is flawed, noting that if homosexuality was genetic, they would eventually disappear because they aren't expected to reproduce.

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