Genes Determine Sex Differences

Thousands of differences in male/female brains
are due to genes, not a sexist environment.
Study further supports Genesis teaching of just two sexes.

by Jerry Bergman, PhD

A new Stanford University research study using mice “found more than 1,000 gene-activation differences between female and male mice’s brains, plus more than 600 between females in different stages of their reproductive cycle.”[1]

Mice were used for several reasons, including as a control for the claim that differences in the sexes in human society are largely due to what the “woke” call our sexist society, not innate genetic differences. With mice, gender dissimilarities are not due to a sexist mouse environment but mostly actual genetic distinctions. In short, they found “1,415 genes exhibit 2,311 differential expression events between sexes.”[2] This study adds to many others confirming the fact that the two genders of male and female were created separately and are very different at every level.

The implications of the Stanford study are clear: Most gender differences between males and females are due to genetics, not social factors. Sex is a biological difference, not a social construct as the modern culture claims. One obvious genetic difference most people know about is that human males have XY chromosomes, females XX. Given 100 trillion cells in a human body, that means there are 100 trillion genetic differences between human males and females! Furthermore, the chromosomal difference results in hundreds of genes that are inactivated in males and another hundred different genes inactivated in females. Multiplying that out, it results in well over 10 quadrillion genetic differences between males and females.

Growth and sexual maturity produces even greater differences between males and females, so great that there is no known trait that is, on average, identical between males and females – not one. Individual males or females may be equal or superior to the opposite sex, but, on average, all traits so far measured are not, on average, equal. One reason why is explained by the Stanford study reviewed here as follows: “Adult males maintain testosterone at a steady state and reliably initiate sex hormone-dependent social behaviors whereas females exhibit cyclic changes in sex hormone titers” [i.e., concentration], “with peak titers at estrus opening a window of sexual receptivity.”[3]

Born in the Wrong Body?

The finding noted above negates the claim that people can be born in the wrong body. Many claim that this “problem” can be remedied by ‘transitioning,’ which is all the rage today. The thinking goes: ‘Are you a female trapped in a male body? No problem. Major cosmetic surgery, hormone treatments, and therapy will give you the right body and you will then have a wonderful life.’  This propaganda push is beyond tragic as demonstrated by the insanely high suicide rate of those who act on this myth.

Transgender youth are defined as ‘persons whose internal gender identity does not match their birth-assigned sex.’ The conclusion that “male and female mouse brains differ in many important ways” according to the new study led by Stanford Medicine investigators is one more piece of evidence that renders the transitioning fad not only wrong, but irresponsible and unscientific. Buyer’s remorse—regret over transitioning—is one reason why the suicide rate among transgenders is estimated to be nine times higher than average.[4]

Measured suicide rates vary, but there is no question that the “Suicide rate and suicidal tendencies among transgender persons are considerably high compared to the general population.”[5] The suicide rate among the transgender population in India is about 31 percent, and 50 percent of the transgender population have attempted suicide at least once before their 20th birthday compared to only 11 per 100,000 for the population at large.[6] In India, 40 to 50 persons who identify as transsexual commit suicide every year in the Karnataka state alone. A study in suicidal ideation and attempted suicide among Chinese transgender persons found the lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation was 56.4 percent, and of attempted suicide was 16.1 percent.[7]

LGBT advocates try to blame the suicide rate on discrimination, but further investigation revealed that these people are unhappy psychologically and (they assume) once they transition they will be able to adjust. After the honeymoon is over, they are still faced with the problems they had before their attempt at transitioning.[8] They find that they did not achieve the happiness they expected (or were told to expect). Then, the big disappointment leads to depression and, in too many cases, suicide. John Stonestreet explains how from the beginning of the sexual revolution its proponents

have wrapped themselves in the mantle of science.… in the 1950s, the “Kinsey Reports” helped normalize a range of sexual behaviors. They were also the source of the still-often-quoted “statistic” that 10 percent of people are same-sex oriented. Both that figure and the methodology behind Kinsey’s “research” have long been discredited. Still, that 10 percent number has stuck in many people’s heads.[9]

Likewise, the myth of “transgender” has stuck for years. Transgender surgery is cosmetically changing only superficial traits, not the quadrillions of innate genetic distinctions that exist between the sexes. The inherent differences in mice are likely a result of the biological dissimilarities within their bodies (especially the brains) of males and females. Specifically, the Stanford research found

four tiny structures within mouse brains that are known to program “rating, dating, mating and hating” behaviors. These behaviors — for example, males’ quick determination of a stranger’s sex, females’ receptivity to mating, and maternal protectiveness — help the animals reproduce and their offspring survive. Analyzing tissue that was extracted from these brain structures and enriched for cells responsive to sex hormones, the scientists found more than 1,000 genes that are substantially more active in the brains of one sex versus the other. Genes are the blueprints for proteins, which do virtually all of a cell’s work. Gene-activation levels — the rate at which the information genes contain is copied and converted into proteins — determine a cell’s functions.[10]

Genetic Differences Explain Many Behavioral Differences

The Stanford research findings help to explain behavioral sex differences in all mammals including humans as well. They also found “more than 600 differences in gene-activation levels between females in different phases of their estrous cycle.” This finding helps us understand how sex hormones regulate sex-typical behaviors. The brain structures researched are shared among mammals, including humans. Therefore, it is “reasonable to expect that analogous brain cell types will be shown to play roles in our sex-typical social behaviors.”[11] The researchers also were able to correlate the brain differences with behavior. For example,

Female mice exhibit maternal rather than territorial aggression, attacking anything that threatens their pups. They’re vastly more inclined than males to guard their youngsters and retrieve any that stray. Their willingness to mate varies powerfully depending on the stage of their cycle.[12]

The researchers concluded a solid six percent of a mouse’s genes were being regulated by sex genes or a stage of the life cycle. This high number is “probably just the tip of the iceberg,” and there is likely “many more sex-differentiated features to be found in these and other brain structures.”[13] The researchers concluded that “Sex hormones exert a profound influence on gendered behaviors” but admitted that “How individual sex hormone-responsive neuronal populations regulate diverse sex-typical behaviors is unclear.”[14]

Explosion of LGBT

The transgender fad has resulted in an explosive increase within the population of those identifying as LGBT, from 2 to 3 percent to, according to a new Gallup poll, one in six (16 percent) of Gen Z-ers (Generation Z adults: those born between 1997 and 2002) identify as LGBT,[15] the T standing for transsexual. A new survey released by Arizona Christian University reported that close to 39 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds claim to be LGBT![16]

Summary

As more research is done, I predict it will become increasingly apparent that the chasm between males and females will be both wider and better confirmed by research. Transsexualism therapy merely produces a superficial cosmetic alteration, but the birth sex still dominates. This is why, medically, the key identification for medical treatment is the birth sex, not the person’s gender identity. I am not referring to rare genetic cases of gender dysphoria, such as pseudohermaphroditism or other conditions where it appears parts of both types of reproductive organs exist in the person, or when an individual has matching chromosomal and gonadal internal tissue (ovary or testis), but mismatching external genitalia. Those are rare medical conditions that must be treated medically. The transsexual issue refers to genetically normal males and females.

References

[1] Stanford Medicine. Sex-typical behavior of male, female mice guided by differences in brain’s gene activity, Stanford Medicine News, 21 Jan 2022. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2022/01/mice-gene-activation-brain-sex-differences.html

[2] Knoedler, Joseph R., et al., A functional cellular framework for sex and estrous cycle-dependent gene expression and behavior, Cell, 21 January 2022, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.12.031. p. 13.

[3] Knoedler, Joseph R., et al., 2022. P. 3.

[4] Taliaferro, Lindsay A., et al., Risk and protective factors for self-harm in a population-based sample of transgender youth, Achieves of  Suicide Research 23(2):203–221, April-June 2019.

[5] Virupaksha, H.G., et al., Suicide and suicidal behavior among transgender persons, Indian Journal of Psychology and  Medicine 38(6):505–509, November-December 2016.

[6]Virupaksha, et al., 2016.

[7] Chen, Runsen, et al., Suicidal ideation and attempted suicide amongst Chinese transgender persons: National population study, Journal of Affective Disorders 245:1126-1134, February 2019.

[8] Stonestreet, John, and Rivera, Roberto, The dangerous “science” behind gender transitioning, Salvo Magazine Issue #59, p. 64, Winter 2021.

[9] Stonestreet and Rivera, 2021, p. 64.

[10] Stanford Medicine, 2022.

[11] Stanford Medicine, 2022

[12] Stanford Medicine, 2022.

[13] Stanford Medicine, 2022.

[14] Knoedler, Joseph R., et al.,  2022 p 1

[16] https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/George-Barna-Millennial-Report-2021-FINAL-Web.pdf; https://www.ar15.com/forums/General/Nearly-40-of-young-Americans-identify-as-LGBTQ-1-3-of-Millennials-believe-in-God-/5-2503008/

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Dr. Jerry Bergman has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for over 40 years at several colleges and universities including Bowling Green State University, Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in experimental pathology, and The University of Toledo. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,300 publications in 12 languages and 40 books and monographs. His books and textbooks that include chapters that he authored are in over 1,500 college libraries in 27 countries. So far over 80,000 copies of the 40 books and monographs that he has authored or co-authored are in print. For more articles by Dr Bergman, see his Author Profile.