Scientists: Creating Lesbian Worms

Well, so much for the argument that homosexuality is a choice:

Altering a gene in the brain of female worms changed their sexual orientation, researchers said on Thursday, making female worms attracted to other females.

The study reinforces the notion that sexual orientation is hard-wired in the brain, said Erik Jorgensen, scientific director of the Brain Institute at the University of Utah.

Yup, you can't blame Gay Dumbledore if your kids are gay, you have to blame your own genes.

The study can be found in the journal Current Biology.

UPDATE: I thought I was still the only one to have noticed this story, but as it turns out, the kids at Good As You have gone pro-worm in response. Also, the Nature blog might quibble with my title for this post:

The ‘lesbian worms’ line is a bit of red herring. There aren’t true females in the C. elegans nematodes used, only hermaphrodites and (rare) true males.

Alright, fine, we hear you. But I'm still not changing the post title unless someone can think of something cuter.