Gay flies turned on by heat

A mere change in temperature is all it takes for the males of a new line of genetically engineered flies to switch from being heterosexual to suddenly courting other males.

The switch occurs within minutes and is fully reversible, meaning scientists have for the first time a system they can manipulate to study how some brain regions may be involved in determining sexual orientation.

Whether the secrets unveiled by these peculiar flies will shed any light on human sexual preference is still unclear. Some of the neurons affected by the genetic changes are involved in sensing pheromones. These play an important role in fly courtship behaviour, but their influence in human sexual behaviour is unknown.

Toshihiro Kitamoto of the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope in California created the flies, but is reluctant to extrapolate the findings: "It's a very sensitive issue."

Others are more willing to express enthusiasm. Dean Hamer of the National Institutes of Health says the research should inspire other scientists hunting for genes involved in sexual orientation in humans.

There is no reason to think similar features will not be present in mammals, he says, noting that homosexual behavior is widespread among many animal species and suggests a strong genetic influence.

Hamer's team has published two highly publicised studies suggesting there is a "gay gene" on human chromosome X, though a different group failed to reproduce their results.

But many disagree. Sexual orientation in humans is mostly a social behaviour, contends Ruth Hubbard from the Council for Responsible Genetics. "To try to find analogies in flies, who have their own agendas, is just plain silly," she says.

Nonetheless, in flies there is no doubt that genetics plays a major determining role. A handful of genes have been identified that, when mutated, lead male flies to lose their preference for females and instead go after other males.

It has been previously suggested that some regions of the nervous system are connected to sexual orientation, but there was no way to focus on them. Now Kitamoto has genetically engineered flies so that only a subset of their neurons stopped working.

The mutation is temperature sensitive, meaning neurons carrying the mutation suddenly become inactive above 30°C. At the normal 19°C, males are heterosexual. But ramp up the heat above the critical temperature and in about two minutes their behaviour changes.

When put in a chamber with virgin females, the males become largely disinterested. Add them instead to a vial with other males and they pursue them vigorously. Flip the temperature back to normal and the flies become heterosexual again.

Kitamoto does not yet know why the flies change their preference so quickly, but says the system should become a valuable tool to define further which regions of the brain, and which genes, interact in determining sexual orientation.

You have it all wrong, pal. Monkeys are as close to humans as snakes are to porcupines. In fact, if these monkeys you are talking about so alike with humans, how come they do not talk, read, write, or drive? Why don't you take you pro-homosexual propoganda BS over to DU, where it belongs?

Why are you attacking me? What wrong did i do?

As for the stuf on the Bonobo go to your local library and do research on them ...you will notice that every single thing i wrote about them is true! I am not the one who created the Bonobo ....hence you should not accuse me of having a homosexual agenda for saying what they do!

And by the way i have never been to DU (whatever that is), and i have no pro-homosexual propaganda! However that does not mean the bonobo doesn't do what i said it does.

And as for the closeness of the bonobo to humans again you should not blame me for that .....instead of calling me names go ask God why he created the Bonobo DNA structure to be 98% similar to Human DNA! I did not do that! Yet you come forth and write me off. And also to be honest with you with a 98% genetic similarity Bonobos are in truth closer to humans than foxes are to dogs! That is a fact.

And i am sure somehow i have rattled your little world, and maybe that is why you attacked me. However you should know that attacking someone does not change a thing ....and i am not the type to not post something because i fear i may offend someone called Houmatt!

And if you check my post you will notice there was nothing pro-homosexual in it! All i did is say what the Bonobo does ....and if you think that is not true do some research for yourself and prove me wrong instead of looking like some fool and accusing me of propaganda! I have no position on this ....i was just answering a post about flies by saying there is a mammal that regularly engages in all sorts of sex, including homosexual sex, and is not human ....the Bonobo.

And if that angers you go curse its creator ......however i have nothing to do with the Bonobo's behavior nor about its genetic closeness to humans.

To. Houmatt: By the way Houmatt, the premier sign of ignorance and atrophied intellectual acumen is attacking someone for saying something you did not agree with without providing backing for your point of view. All you did is attack me with your mindless vitriol and accuse me of spreading 'propaganda' and telling me to go off to some place called DU (i guess the D has to do with democrat) yet you gave no evidence of how i am spreading propaganda and why you attacked me.

And as for the Bonobo being propaganda: check out the Bonobo. It exists and it does what i said it does. I guess your ilk is the same type that said during the middle ages that the Sun and the rest of the Universe revolved around the Earth, and severely chastized anyone who said different. Something also tells me you might be among the bunch that believe the world is 6,000 years old or some hock like that!

And by the way you called me pro-homosexual (saying i have a pro-homosexual agenda means i am intrinsically pro-homosexual). I am not and am against it! I do not attack them though but i do find the behavior abhorrent (Christ did say hate the sin not the sinner so that is what i do).

However just because i am not pro-homosexual does not mean i cannot write about the Bonobo and its behaviors! And yes, Bonobos have loads of homosexual sex and have been doing so for ages!

And yes, they do share 98% of genetic similarity with man, making them closer than foxes are to dogs! This is an established fact that can be clarified and further proven if you could do a DNA sequencing between the Genetic Matter of a bonobo and that of a human! This does not make humans the same as Bonobos .......however we are 98% similar!

And as for your analogy :you saud that if Bonobos look so alike with humans, how come they do not talk, read, write, or drive?

I am sorry but there is no logical progression in that argument! It is terribly weak. First of all bonobos talk ......they do not speak German or English or any human tongue, but they are extremely efficient communicators.

And as for driving if that is your measure of 'being human' i pity your logic! If you go to New Guineau or to some of the more remote regions of Tibet you will discover communities of people who have yet to even see a car let alone drive it! They cannot drive. According to your above sentence they cannot be human!

And in South Africa there is the Khoi-San tribe (it is comprised of the Khoi-khoi and the San who are desert bush people)! There language is traditionally composed of clicks, whistles and other similar sounds (it is said it developed as their only language because they spent all their time hunting). The KhoiSan do not 'talk' in the way you think of talk ....but they are surely human (there DNA is 100% the same as yours ...unless now you want to tell me DNA does not exist).

I am not sayoing Bonobos are human. They are not. However they are 98% similar to humans, and just because they do not 'drive cars' does not mean they are not 98% similar.

I wish instead of attacking me and calling me pro-gay and that i am 'all wrong' you could give me evidence on why i am wrong! And if you read my post (no. 5) you will notice that no where did i say i was pro-gay or the like. Yet (because of issues only you can explain for yourself) you got annoyed that i mentioned the Bonobo.

To be honest with you people like you make me laugh. They get worked up whenever someone says something they never learnt in grade school and promptly attack the person. A couple of months ago some guy was saying i was a 'warlock' (seriously) and a 'habevite hashebavist' (whatever that is) and then started asking for a Red Heifer (according to some Jewish tradition the sacrifice of a pure Red Heifer will bring the Messiah)!

Maybe you know that guy, hmmm?

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