Genetic variants underlying human bisexual behavior are reproductively advantageous

Genetic variants underlying human bisexual behavior are reproductively advantageous. Siliang Song & Jianzhi Zhang. Science Advances, Jan 3 2024. Vol 10, Issue 1. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj6958

Abstract: Because human same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) is heritable and leads to fewer offspring, how SSB-associated alleles have persisted and whether they will remain in human populations are of interest. Using the UK Biobank, we address these questions separately for bisexual behavior (BSB) and exclusive SSB (eSSB) after confirming their genetic distinction. We discover that male BSB is genetically positively correlated with the number of offspring. This unexpected phenomenon is attributable to the horizontal pleiotropy of male risk-taking behavior–associated alleles because male risk-taking behavior is genetically positively correlated with both BSB and the number of offspring and because genetically controlling male risk-taking behavior abolishes the genetic correlation between male BSB and the number of offspring. By contrast, eSSB is genetically negatively correlated with the number of offspring. Our results suggest that male BSB–associated alleles are likely reproductively advantageous, which may explain their past persistence and predict their future maintenance, and that eSSB-associated alleles are likely being selected against at present.

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Popular press:

Risk-Taking Behavior Linked to Persistence of Male Bisexuality Genes

Summary: A new study sheds light on the persistence of genes associated with male bisexuality in the human genome. The research suggests that these genes are linked to risk-taking behavior, which confers reproductive benefits to heterosexual men carrying them.

By analyzing data from over 450,000 participants, the study found that risk-takers tend to father more children and are more likely to carry the genetic variants linked to bisexuality. This indicates that the reproductive advantage of these genes is a byproduct of the advantage of risk-taking behavior.

Key Facts:

Male heterosexuals carrying genetic variants associated with bisexuality father more children on average.

Risk-taking behavior, including unprotected sex and promiscuity, may be the underlying cause of this reproductive advantage.

The study distinguishes between genetic variants associated with bisexual behavior and exclusive same-sex behavior, with the former conferring reproductive benefits while the latter leads to fewer children over time.

Source: University of Michigan

Because same-sex sexual behavior does not result in offspring, evolutionary biologists have long wondered how the genes associated with this behavior have persisted in the human genome, and whether they will remain in the future.

A new University of Michigan-led study, scheduled for publication Jan. 3 in the journal Science Advances, suggests that part of the explanation—specifically for male bisexuals—has to do with risk-taking behavior.

The U-M researchers analyzed data from more than 450,000 participants of European ancestry in the United Kingdom’s Biobank database of genetic and health information. Participants responded to a questionnaire that included the question, “Would you describe yourself as someone who takes risks?”

The U-M analysis revealed that male heterosexuals who carry the genetic variants associated with bisexual behavior, which are known as BSB-associated alleles, father more children than average. Furthermore, men who describe themselves as risk-takers tend to have more children and are more likely to carry BSB-associated alleles.

However, the authors stress that their study looks at the genetic underpinnings of same-sex sexual behavior and not the behaviors themselves, which are affected by both genetic and environmental factors.

In fact, the proportion of UK Biobank participants reporting same-sex sexual behavior has been on the rise in recent decades, likely due to growing societal openness toward it, according to the researchers.

In addition, the authors say their new results “predominantly contribute to the diversity, richness, and better understanding of human sexuality. They are not, in any way, intended to suggest or endorse discrimination on the basis of sexual behavior,” they wrote.

The new study is a follow-up to one published in May in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Song and Zhang. That study also sought to explain the persistence of genetic variants associated with same-sex sexual behavior.

In 2021, Australian biologist Brendan Zietsch and colleagues presented evidence that heterosexuals carrying same-sex-associated alleles have more sexual partners than those not carrying the variants. This could confer a genetic advantage, the authors suggested, because more sexual partners could translate into more children.

In their PNAS study, which also relied on UK Biobank data, Zhang and Song showed that while the mechanism proposed by Zietsch likely worked in pre-modern societies, it is not active today because the widespread use of contraception has decoupled the number of offspring from the number of sexual partners in heterosexuals.

The findings presented in that PNAS paper led Zhang and Song to search for other potential mechanisms for the genetic maintenance of human same-sex behavior.