Epigenetic Test Can Predict Homosexuality, Controversial Study Claims

Researchers have developed an algorithm that they say can crudely predict homosexuality in men based on certain chemical tags in their DNA.These controversial results, which have not yet been published in a scientific journal, will be presented Thursday afternoon at a genetics conference in Baltimore.By analyzing five “epigenetic” tags — chemicals that latch onto DNA and help turn genes on or off — the algorithm can reportedly predict a man’s sexual orientation with 67% accuracy, according to Tuck Ngun, who led the work as a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA.Several experts who were not involved in the research told BuzzFeed News that they were skeptical of the veracity of these results, particularly because the study was based on a relatively small sample of men.“All predictive models need replication with larger samples, and this one certainly does,” J. Michael Bailey, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, told BuzzFeed News by email.Read more at...BuzzFeed News, October 2015.