The study reviewed was the result of work by Hamer, Hu, Hu, Magnuson and Pattatucci (1993). The Angier article focuses on Hamer’s second study of homosexuality and genetics. Hamer and his colleagues studied 40 pairs of homosexual brothers to determine if they shared any common genetics. They found that 33 of the pairs shared identical pieces of the end of the X chromosome. The Angier article states that only half of the pairs should have this similar area by random chance, because the X chromosome genes can be passed on from the mother in two different forms.

The remainder of the article is focused on the potential negatives and positives that would occur if researchers were able to conclusively determine a gene that causes homosexuality. Some Gay Rights advocates fear that this, in combination with new advances in genetic modifica

Had Angier considered the other research on the subject, she would have been able to find much support for the theory that homosexuality is genetic. The twin studies, while less significant due to their simplicity and lack of control for environmental factors, still add support to that theory. However, Angier’s article, titled “Report Suggests Homosexuality is Linked to Genes,” is meant to be a review of Hamer et.al (1993), and not a comprehensive review of all of the literature available on this topic. In this capacity, she does an excellent job of summarizing the work in a way that the general public easily absorbs it.

Using a completely different approach towards a biological basis for homosexuality, Allen and Gorski (1992) studied a brain structure called the anterior commissure, a fiber tract not known to be related to reproductive functions. Using post-mortem brains, the researchers found that the midsaggital area of this structure was 34% larger in homosexual men than in heterosexual men, and 18% larger than in heterosexual women. (Allen & Gorski, 1992)

Some topics in this essay:
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