Thanks for your comments so far - it does raise interesting questions for me, particularly as the understanding of genetics progresses and we begin to see a lot more experimentation by the lovely scientists of the world. :facepalm:
As an example to help overcome some of the urban myth around genes - gene researchers now believe that they have identified genes associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) eg. Aspergers. These genes do not themselves cause ASD, but they are responsible for irregularities in foetal brain development that may then be influenced by pre-natal environmental factors, eg. hormones - and be aware that hormones are not just about gender, they are a complex and diverse family of compounds that regulate all sorts of physiological behaviour, including our development as infants. I put in my assumption that this was hereditary, of course, it could be genetic and have an environmental cause – organo-phosphates or GM wheat!– but I specifically wanted to discuss the hereditary aspect as there is a bit of a history of this that goes back and crosses cultures.
If it’s possible that genetic irregularities are responsible for ASD – a psychological and behavioural disorder – isn’t it also possible they could be related to transgender conditions, across the spectrum? Adina – thanks to you for your comments that prompted me to go away and dig for a suitable example.
Scary stuff Cheryl – and let me make it clear that I’m not espousing a regression back to eugenics, but gene therapy is with us today and is already being developed to address a range of – admittedly more serious and clearly defined - physiological hereditary conditions. Gene tinkering is carefully monitored and controlled, but you know darn well that some smart alec scientist out there will be doing things they shouldn’t be, and while a ‘cure’ for autism may be a good thing (as severe autism is generally perceived as a condition more detrimental to the individual than beneficial) how long would it take for some parties to be calling for a cure for homosexuality if a gay gene irregularity was ever discovered? The ethics of this aside, if there was a safe modification to remove the irregularity, some folk here have said they would take a pill for themselves, so how many would also be prepared to take one for their descendants…? Which does bring me to Adina’s other point:Originally Posted by Cheryl T
This is a tough one and a great point, Adina. I think it would need a great deal more study to understand what benefits it brings more than just an appreciation of “do these shoes go with this handbag?” I’m semi-joking because we may have some collective traits that are desirable, but without anyone properly studying how we are as a group (and probably categorising us!) we’ll never know that.
Partly I’ve been thinking about this because there is autism on my wife’s side of the family, but also because of a more obvious example experienced by a GG friend who was recently divorced, two children both around 7-9 years old, and one of the factors in the divorce was that the father suffered a known hereditary condition (similar to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) that causes pronounced scarring after wound healing. The mother noticed the symptoms of this when her daughter was quite young and the father was forced to reveal his pre-knowledge of the hereditary condition. Of course she’s fought within herself over whether the relationship would have developed to having children had she known about the condition beforehand, because both children are now subject to this for a lifetime. On balance, that and other factors, would probably have caused the relationship to founder early.
Consuelo - I have had to make assumptions to ask this question, but I've tried not to be unreasonable or irrational about them. I think our condition is begging for some more real, hardcore research and perhaps if there are any proper scientific types reading this they just might see their next thesis and research grant emerge from our pink, fluffy place.
Katey x
