Subject:
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Re: New poll: sexuality and Lugnet
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 21 Sep 2004 15:50:28 GMT
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Viewed:
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1162 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Cynthia Bradham wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Christopher L. Weeks wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Cynthia Bradham wrote:
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The point I was
trying to make is that identifying gene/s that are involved in sexual
orientation preferences is no small task, and even finding an associated
gene would be just the first step.
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Yeah, I got all that and I hope I wasn’t diluting your point.
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There are some genes that are
rearranged later in life, mostly in the immune system. Some immune-like
proteins also exist in the brain, and could be subject to rearrangements as
well. No one really understands exactly how these genes get rearranged
(like, is it random or directed?), but it is within the realm of
possibility that some rearrangements could be triggered by environmental or
behavioral cues. A bit far-fetched, granted. That being said, sexuality is
an extremely complex thing, and is probably not controlled by any single
gene.
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That’s super-cool. I had no idea. Is there a term for this phenomenon that
I can google for?
Chris
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Chris-
This incredible process was discovered when people began to realize that we
each have too many different antibody proteins, and that our DNA isn’t long
enough to encode them all. Eventually they figured out that each
antibody-producing cell rearranges it’s DNA to produce a unique antibody gene
& protein. You could look in a genetics or immunology text book for the
specifics. I just googled ‘gene rearrangement’ (this is the term) and got
hits, but mostly about the immune system. Try this link:
http://www.imcb.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/seminar/06a.html which specifically talks
about gene rearrangements in the nervous system. It’s pretty amazing, isn’t
it? Cyndi
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See also the novels of Greg Bear, who seems to riff on some of this stuff quite
a bit. You might just get a lot of confused views rather than good solid
scientific info but you might just enjoy the reads... (I just finished Vitals
which definitely played around with some of these ideas quite thrillingly)
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: New poll: sexuality and Lugnet
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| (...) Chris- This incredible process was discovered when people began to realize that we each have too many different antibody proteins, and that our DNA isn't long enough to encode them all. Eventually they figured out that each antibody-producing (...) (20 years ago, 21-Sep-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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