Discovery of 'Gay Gene' Questioned

Six years ago, molecular geneticist Dean Hamer and his colleagues announced that they had found a genetic link to male homosexuality--an as yet unidentified gene on the X chromosome ( Science , 16 July 1993, p. 321). Now on page 665, a research team reports failing to find a link between male homosexuality and Xq28, the chromosomal segment implicated by Hamer9s study. In addition, other unpublished work does not provide strong support for a linkage. The authors of the Science paper say that, taken together, the results suggest that if there is a linkage it9s so weak that it9s not important and that researchers should be looking elsewhere for the genes that contribute to homosexuality. Hamer disputes that contention, however.