Fruit fly study
could prove genetic origin of sexual orientation

It doesn't scientifically prove that gay men and lesbians are "hardwired" with their sexual orientation before birth, but a new study released Friday on the genes and sexual behavior of fruit flies is rocking the scientific community. Yes, you heard that right. Fruit flies could be instrumental in helping scientists understand if there is a "gay gene." Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna genetically altered a female fruit fly. When it was released into an observation chamber it took on the sexual personality of a male. The female tapped another female fruit fly on the leg, played her a mating song with its wings, and then licked her. That one male gene is apparently by itself enough to create patterns of sexual behavior--a kind of master sexual gene that normally exists in two distinct male and female variants, according to The New York Times, which first reported the story. The newspaper also reported that in a series of experiments, the researchers found that females given the male variant of the gene acted exactly like males in courtship, madly pursuing other females. Males that were artificially given the female version of the gene became more passive and turned their sexual attention to other males. ''We have shown that a single gene in the fruit fly is sufficient to determine all aspects of the flies' sexual orientation and behavior,'' said the paper's lead author, Barry Dickson, senior scientist at the institute. ''It's very surprising. What it tells us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose.''