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How does DNA affect your sex life?

How does DNA affect your sex life?
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What do you notice when you enter a middle school classroom? Puberty hits some children earlier than the others. You may find some students daydreaming about their girlfriend or boyfriend and about kissing. While others, are planning their future course of studies. A new study now suggests that your genes or DNA not only drives puberty but also influences your sex life.

Your DNA can now tell when you will lose your virginity and have first sex. For women the genes can also determine the age of first birth. The genes are also associated with divergent personality traits.

Isn’t it interesting!

Your genes not only drives puberty but also influences your sex life. Click To Tweet

What has DNA got to do with your first action between the sheets?

Well, according to the researchers there are 38 specific places in the human genes that may be linked with the age at which people first have sex.

Interestingly, the researchers found that people with these genetic variations were also 26% less likely to get admission in the college and 33% more likely to start smoking.

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“While social and cultural factors are clearly relevant, we show that age at first sexual intercourse is also influenced by genes,” said John Perry, researcher at the University of Cambridge in Britain, in a paper that appeared in the journal Nature Genetics.

dna.

According to a Los Angeles Times report, these 38 specific places in our DNA affect a range of genes. Some affect the timing of puberty and others are linked with risk-taking behaviour.

According to the research, one of the genes, CADM2, is linked to risk-taking behavior, while another, MSRA. So what do these findings suggest?

It suggests that the gene variants don’t directly cause a person to have sex earlier in life. Instead, these genetic traits may incline the person to specific behaviours that lead to sexual activity at an early age.

What role does DNA play?

The researchers analyzed UK Biobank data for more than 125,000 contributors. These people were between ages 40 to 69.

The data included information on:

  • Patient’s genetics
  • Personal health history
  • Age of a girl’s first period
  • Education level
  • Number of offsprings
  • When the person first had sex

The researchers identified 38 gene variants that seem to affect the age at which a person loses virginity. 33 of these variants were found in both men and women, 4 were found only in men and 1 uniquely in women.

“We show that a substantial proportion of variation in age at first sex is due to genetic factors, which likely act through a variety of biological mechanisms,” the authors noted.

DNA

When a more extensive statistical analysis was conducted, it was revealed that these genetic variants were more common in people who had kids at an earlier age. They were also associated with lower education levels.

According to Dr. John Perry, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge and lead author on the study, “If you’re maturing sexually ahead of your peers, you’re going to be spending more time chasing girls or boys than working, and your priorities change and your behaviors change.”

It does not mean that environment and lifestyle don’t play a role. Peer pressure, family upbringing, religion and popular culture all have a role to play in a person’s sexual development.  Apart from this, some environmental triggers also cause puberty, an disturbing trend in which puberty begins before age 8 in girls and before 9 in boys.

The team hopes that their study which was published in the journal Nature Genetics, will lead to promotion of healthy sexual behaviours.


Comments (4)

  • Hi Sonal,

    I believe that its its up to us as people to feel good about ourselves and the other person we are with.
    Great article.

    • Author

      Hi Alicia

      You are right that it depends on us to feel good. But somewhere our genes do play a role in determining our sex life.

      Thanks for writing in

      Have a nice day!

  • Hi Sonal,
    it is true that genes play a role in this but in my opinion, these days
    the advertising and pictures which are everywhere trigger this disturbing
    trend , not to mention some videos. It is proven that genes can be changed
    trough our perception. It is more the other way the DNA is affected by the
    perception that all these movies , pictures bring.
    It needs the right education and as this team hopes the study will lead to healthy sexual behavior.
    It may need more than this study ,it needs education about the manipulative influence of the media as well .
    Thank you for this interesting post.
    Erika
    Erika Mohssen-Beyk recently posted…A Poem About Hard Work – Toil And TreasureMy Profile

    • Author

      Hi Erika mam

      You are absolutely right about the role of advertising and media in our sexual behaviour. Well the post is just about a study that was carried out to see whether our DNA has any affect on our sex life. It is just one factor that affects.

      Rest of the triggers you mentioned ofcourse play a very important role.

      Thanks for sharing your opinion.

      Have a nice day!

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