Algorithm Accurately Predicts Sexual Orientation, Including Homosexuality

For all you same-sex supporters out there, there is some good news.

Research shows that homosexuality is really linked to your DNA and can be shown through a genetic analysis. One team of researchers could predict the sexual orientation of males with about 70 percent accuracy, with an algorithm analysing just nine regions of the human genome, the American Society for Human Genetics  reported.

"To our knowledge, this is the first example of a predictive model for sexual orientation based on molecular markers," said Tuck C. Ngun, first author on the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine  of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Reseearchers studied patterns of DNA methylation, or "a molecular modification to DNA that influences how a gene is expressed" across the genomes of pairs of male identical twins. The study looked at 37 pairs of twins in which one was homosexual while the other was heterosexual. There were 10 pairs in which both members were homosexual.

"A challenge was that because we studied twins, their DNA methylation patterns were highly correlated," Ngun said. "The high correlation and large data set made it difficult to identify differences between twins, determine which ones were relevant to sexual orientation, and determine which of those could be used predictively."

Hence, researchers used a machine learning algorithm called FuzzyForest, which showed "methylation patterns in nine small regions of the genome" that could show sexual orientation with n amazing 70 percent accuracy.

"Previous studies had identified broader regions of chromosomes that were involved in sexual orientation, but we were able to define these areas down to the base pair level with our approach," Ngun said.

Scientists hope to find exactly why DNA methylation in such areas has links to sexual orientation.

"Sexual attraction is such a fundamental part of life, but it's not something we know a lot about at the genetic and molecular level. I hope that this research helps us understand ourselves better and why we are the way we are," Ngun concluded.

The findings were presented at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG)