DUVAN DARIO PAJARO GARCIA - 1959966

INTRODUCTION
Human sexual orientation, particularly homosexual orientation, is becoming a more
prevalent theme in our society every day. Non-heterosexual people have experienced
dramatic increases in both their rights and positive public opinion in many Western
countries. In contrast, in much of Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Oceania, and
parts of Asia, homosexual conduct remains illegal and severely punishable, maintaining the
death penalty in some countries. Political controversies about sexual orientation often
overlap with scientific controversies. The most controversial scientific questions concern
the causes of sexual orientation, that is; Is sexual orientation genetically conditioned from
birth or does it develop according to people's education and environment?

An individual's sexual orientation is defined as her erotic desire for another of the opposite
sex (heterosexuality), of her own sex (homosexuality), or of both sexes (bisexuality). It is
an extremely complex characteristic on which, most likely, genetic factors, biological
factors, sociocultural factors and life experiences, among others, act. The result of this
interaction is sexual behavior, which is not always a direct reflection of erotic attraction. In
this sense, the category of bisexual is quite controversial, more frequently in young people
than in adults and, in many cases, the classification of an individual in this category is the
result of relationships with the non-preferred sex, for reasons not related to its orientation
(1). The variability that sexual orientation shows in nature has motivated researchers to
study the importance of genetic factors in its determination.

The term epigenetics was coined in the 1950s to describe the mechanism by which
multicellular organisms develop multiple different tissues from a single genome. We now
recognize that this process is accomplished by detectable molecular tags; These marks
generate modifications that affect the transcriptional activity of genes and, once established,
are relatively stable in subsequent generations. The current use of the term is to indicate
heritable changes in the structure and organization of DNA that do not involve changes in
the sequence and that modulate gene expression. These changes in gene expression then
imply heritable changes in the phenotype. The traditional mechanisms of epigenetic
regulation include DNA methylation and histone modifications, understanding these
proteins as those responsible for packaging DNA and considering that the two types of
mechanisms participate in the modulation of chromatin remodeling complexes (2).

In this review we will address these concepts in a broader way.

INTRODUCCIÓN
La orientación sexual humana, en particular la orientación homosexual, es cada día un tema
más prevalente en nuestra sociedad. Las personas no heterosexuales han experimentado
aumentos dramáticos tanto en sus derechos como en la opinión pública positiva en muchos
países occidentales. En cambio, en gran parte de África, Oriente Medio, el Caribe, Oceanía
y partes de Asia, la conducta homosexual sigue siendo ilegal y severamente castigable,
manteniendo la pena de muerte en algunos países. Las controversias políticas sobre la
orientación sexual a menudo se superponen con controversias científicas. Las cuestiones
científicas más controvertidas se refieren a las causas de la orientación sexual, es decir;
¿Está la orientación sexual condicionada genéticamente desde el nacimiento o se desarrolla
de acuerdo a la educación y el entorno de las personas?

Se define orientación sexual de un individuo como su deseo erótico por otro del sexo
opuesto (heterosexualidad), de su propio sexo (homosexualidad), o de ambos sexos
(bisexualidad). Es una característica sumamente compleja sobre la cual actúan, muy
probablemente, factores genéticos, factores biológicos, socioculturales y experiencias
vivenciales, entre otros. El resultado de esta interacción es el comportamiento sexual, que
no siempre es reflejo directo de la atracción erótica. En este sentido, la categoría de
bisexual es bastante controversial, con mayor frecuencia en jóvenes que en adultos y, en
muchos casos, la clasificación de un individuo en esta categoría es el resultado de
relaciones con el sexo no preferido, por razones no vinculadas con su orientación (1). La
variabilidad que muestra la orientación sexual en la naturaleza, ha motivado a
investigadores a estudiar la importancia de los factores genéticos en su determinación.

El término epigenética fue acuñado en la década de los cincuenta para describir el

mecanismo por el cual los organismos multicelulares desarrollan múltiples tejidos
diferentes a partir de un único genoma. En la actualidad reconocemos que este proceso se
logra mediante marcas moleculares detectables; dichas marcas generan modificaciones que
afectan la actividad transcripcional de los genes y una vez establecidas son relativamente
estables en las siguientes generaciones. El uso actual del término consiste en indicar
cambios heredables en la estructura y organización del ADN que no involucran cambios en
la secuencia y que modulan la expresión génica. Estos cambios en la expresión génica
implican, entonces, cambios heredables en el fenotipo. Los mecanismos tradicionales de
regulación epigenética incluyen metilación del ADN y modificaciones de histonas,
entendiendo a estas proteínas como las encargadas de empaquetar el ADN y considerando
que los dos tipos de mecanismos participan en la modulación de los complejos re
modeladores de la cromatina (2).
En esta revisión abordaremos estos conceptos de una manera más amplia.
 ➢ TOPIC AND CONTEXT.
Human sexual orientation, particularly homosexual orientation, is becoming a more
prevalent theme in our society every day. Non-heterosexual people have experienced
dramatic increases in both their rights and positive public opinion in many Western
countries. In contrast, in much of Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Oceania, and
parts of Asia, homosexual conduct remains illegal and severely punishable, maintaining the
death penalty in some countries. Political controversies about sexual orientation often
overlap with scientific controversies. The most controversial scientific questions concern
the causes of sexual orientation.

➢ FOCUS AND SCOPE.

An individual's sexual orientation is defined as his erotic desire for another of the opposite
sex (heterosexuality), of his own sex (homosexuality), or of both sexes (bisexuality). It is
an extremely complex characteristic on which, most likely, genetic factors, biological
factors, sociocultural factors and life experiences, among others, act. The result of this
interaction is sexual behavior, which is not always a direct reflection of erotic attraction. In
this sense, the category of bisexual is quite controversial, more frequently in young people
than in adults and, in many cases, the classification of an individual in this category is the
result of relationships with the non-preferred sex, for reasons not related to its orientation
(1). The variability that sexual orientation shows in nature has motivated researchers to
study the importance of genetic factors in its determination.

➢ RELEVANCE AND IMPORTANCE.

The term epigenetics was coined in the 1950s to describe the mechanism by which
multicellular organisms develop multiple different tissues from a single genome. We now
recognize that this process is accomplished by detectable molecular tags; These marks
generate modifications that affect the transcriptional activity of genes and, once established,
are relatively stable in subsequent generations. The current use of the term is to indicate
heritable changes in the structure and organization of DNA that do not involve changes in
the sequence and that modulate gene expression. These changes in gene expression then
imply heritable changes in the phenotype. The traditional mechanisms of epigenetic
regulation include DNA methylation and histone modifications, understanding these
proteins as those responsible for packaging DNA and considering that the two types of
mechanisms participate in the modulation of chromatin reshaping complexes.

➢ QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES.

Is sexual orientation genetically conditioned from birth or does it develop according to
people's education and environment?
 ➢ OVERVIEW OF THE STRUCTURE.
In the first chapter, an individual's sexual orientation is defined as his erotic desire for
another of the opposite sex (heterosexuality), his own sex (homosexuality), or both sexes
(bisexuality). It is an extremely complex characteristic on which, most likely, genetic
factors, biological factors, sociocultural factors and life experiences, among others, act. The
second makes it clear that the term epigenetics has been used to describe the mechanism by
which multicellular organisms develop multiple different tissues from a single genome. We
now recognize that this process is accomplished by detectable molecular tags; These marks
generate modifications that affect the transcriptional activity of genes and, once established,
are relatively stable in subsequent generations.