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Science
Vol. 284 no. 5414 pp. 665-667
DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5414.665
  • Report

Male Homosexuality: Absence of Linkage to Microsatellite Markers at Xq28

  1. George Ebers1
  1. 1 Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, University of Western Ontario, 339 Windermere Road, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5A5.
  2. 2 Department of Genetics, Stanford Medical School, Palo Alto, CA 94305–5120, USA.

Abstract

Several lines of evidence have implicated genetic factors in homosexuality. The most compelling observation has been the report of genetic linkage of male homosexuality to microsatellite markers on the X chromosome. This observation warranted further study and confirmation. Sharing of alleles at position Xq28 was studied in 52 gay male sibling pairs from Canadian families. Four markers at Xq28 were analyzed (DXS1113, BGN, Factor 8, and DXS1108). Allele and haplotype sharing for these markers was not increased over expectation. These results do not support an X-linked gene underlying male homosexuality.

  • * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mailgrice{at}julian.uwo.ca

  • Received for publication 9 November 1998.
  • Accepted for publication 18 March 1999.