Erika Valdespino
Mr. John Graviano
AP Biology, Period C
23 October 2015
Nature Versus Nurture: Homosexuality
The debate about homosexuality provokes controversy not only among religious and political parties, but also within the scientific community. To put it simply, a Nature versus Nurture discourse has come into play. Scientists argue whether homosexuality arises from genes or environmental factors. Scientists supporting each side of the argument both have sufficient evidence to support their claims. However, researchers at New York University have reached a new breakthrough that supports the idea that homosexuality stems from genetic information through studying a specific species of roundworm.
Despite only measuring around one millimeter in length and being harmless to humans, Caenorhabditis elegans, a non-segmented roundworm part of the Nematode phylum, is one of the model organisms used in biological research. Due to the worm’s short life cycle and compact genome, C. elegans are an ideal organism to observe. C. elegans have been used in studies ranging
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The reason as to why this would occur left scientists puzzled. Was it an environmental factor causing the male worms to mate, or was it something else? After being unable to find environmental factors, scientists broke down the worm’s genome and found an explanation. A variation in a gene known as plep-1 causes male excretory pores, found just below the mouth of the organism, to attract other males. After mating, the male with the attractive pore develops a shorter life expectancy. The shorter life expectancy is caused by the male’s neck becoming plugged. When the pore becomes plugged, the worm is unable to excrete waste products. The excess waste products eventually poison the worm resulting in death. Plep-1 has also been discovered in the hermaphrodites’ genetic coding. Those with plep-1 tended to have a shorter life