http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_695000/695142.stm
Finger length may be an indication of sexual orientation, a controversial
study has shown.
Scientists from California found that lesbian women have a greater difference
in length between their ring finger and index finger than straight women do.
The same pattern was also found for homosexual men - but only when the
researchers looked at those males that had several older brothers.
The scientists from the University of California at Berkeley were testing a
theory that higher levels of androgen - male sex hormones - in the womb
influence both finger length and sexual orientation.
They did this by looking at the hands of 720 men and women on the streets of
San Francisco. The volunteers had their fingers measured and were asked
questions about their sexual orientation and the number of older brothers and
sisters in the family.
In women, the ring finger and index finger tend to be about the same length.
In men, however, the index finger is usually the shorter of the two digits.
'Masculine' pattern
What the study showed was that lesbian women also tended to have the more
"masculine" arrangement - that is, they had shorter index fingers.
But the ratio of finger sizes in men was more complicated. Comparisons
between all men showed no differences. Only gay men with several older
brothers had an unusually "masculine" finger ratio - in other words, they had
significantly shorter index fingers.
Having a large number of older brothers had previously been established as a
factor predisposing men to homosexuality, and like finger length reflects
prenatal androgen exposure.
Homosexual men without older brothers had finger length ratios
indistinguishable from heterosexual men, indicating that factors other than
hormones - such as genetic influences - also contribute to sexual
orientation.
"The results in men are more complicated but also more interesting," Dr Marc
Breedlove, one of the researchers, told the BBC. This is because they suggest
younger brothers are being exposed to higher levels of androgen in the womb
than their elders.
Womb 'memory'
"We think it is inescapable that the mother's body is remembering how many
sons she has carried before, and somehow she is then increasing the amount of
androgen that each subsequent son sees before birth. So the fascinating
questions are: where is the memory being stored in the mother's body and what
is she doing to change amount of androgen that each subsequent son sees."
The Berkeley study has been published in Nature. Scientists in the UK have
given it a cautious reception. They say far more work is required to back up
some of the ideas contained in the research.
"I think this is a possibility," said Dr Richard Sharpe, of the human
reproductive science unit at Edinburgh University. "But no-one has actually
measured the levels of androgens in foetuses or the womb - you can imagine it
is difficult to do - so this is all speculation. It may be informed
speculation, but I think when we get on to a subject as touchy as sexual
orientation we need to clearly define what is speculation and what is fact."
Dr Sharpe said animal studies had shown how female sex hormones could affect
sexual differentiation in the brain and regulate sexual behaviour, but this
had still to be proved in humans. It could well be different, he said.
Search BBC News Online
Advanced search options
BBC ONE TV NEWS
WORLD NEWS SUMMARY
Internet links:
UC Berkeley
Nature
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Links to other Sci/Tech stories are at the foot of the page.
Links to other Sci/Tech stories
In This Section Planet hunters find new worlds June target for human genome
In pursuit of the ultimate weapon GM super rice unveiled Japan volcano
threatens eruption Meningitis bug success Tiger poaching 'still at danger
level' A finger on sexuality Neanderthals not human ancestors Demon settles
net libel case Mars failures 'down to cash' Farming 'threatens third of
Europe's birds' Fights during space test Liquid cement 'eases spine pain'
Tougher checks on BSE 'Single mutation led to language' Britain digitally
divided say ministers UK lags on riding 'green wave' Where now for Nasa?
Sweetener for bad tasting drugs Mouse stays thin
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:06:47 MDT