The Missing Link

I saw this in my usual Google search today and my initial reaction was "Wow".

Transsexual Study Reveals Genetic Link (and another.)

Seriously. Wow.

Part of me wants to celebrate at the validation, but a part of me is also cautious.

The part that celebrates the validation sees family, friends, and coworkers that can look at these results and perhaps not think that transgender people are mentally incapacitated...that we aren't freaks...that this isn't a choice...and that it's not a lifestyle decision.

"Hey, baby, see my androgen receptor genes....that's just the way I am. Get the fuck over it and treat me with a little respect!!!"

Sorry. Built up rage, ya know?

The cautious part wonders what this means for the long term. Will there be a test for this, prognosis of some sort, and treatments? If an embryo or fetus is tested for androgen receptor length, and given a high likelihood of being born transgender, is there something done while the mother is still pregnant? Do we correct this? Is the pregnancy aborted? Or do we deal with it down the line when the child may or may not develop further along the female gender identity? It kinda brings up the whole Gattaca thing again, something a number of people have cautiously reviewed as our knowledge of genetics moves further and further into the terabytes of data from one single strand of DNA.

And then there is the whole idea of being personally tested. If the results ring true, then it's something to pass around for even further validation.

"See? I'm not so crazy after all, huh? Looks like I made the best decision after all."

But, it has been hypothesized that transsexualism is not due to one explicit reason. Many consider that there are a variety of reasons that cause transsexualism. So, what happens if the personal test shows negative for the androgen receptor genes? Does this invalidate my own journey?

The testing, though, only provides a partial correlation. Genetic males with no gender identity issues show the longer receptors 50% of the time, while transsexual women have the markers 55% of the time. It shows a correlation, but it also shows that more testing is needed to find other areas of interest.

It is highly likely that there could be multiple genetic reasons for transsexualism, as well as multiple non-genetic reasons. And what we term transsexualism could be covering numerous genetic differences. Genetics and statistics are interesting. If something either is or isn't, it becomes a matter of statistical logic. Some people state that transsexualism is prevalent in approximately 1 out of every 1000-2000 people. It's interesting that multiples of 2 move in such order...1/2, 1/4, 1/8...up to 1/1024, 1/2048. This is around the powers of 8-9 range when we reach 1000-2000. What if there were 8 or 9 genetic markers that ended up leading to genetic gender identities opposite the X and Y in our genes. Of course, if it were so limited, then you'd see a higher percentage than 55% mentioned in the report, but it still lends a strong possibility that genetics can be possible for transsexualism.

As I brought up before, I'm participating in Kaiser's genetic research, but I wonder if they will ever tackle such an issue.

Part of me wants to know, and part of me doesn't. I seriously would love to see that I do have the longer androgen receptor genes. But, if I didn't have them, would it cause me to ponder my own validation, even though I feel very secure being me? For now though, it will be interesting to keep an eye on their research to see what else they dig up.

My bet is this is only the tip of the genetic iceberg.