Your DNA can decide when you lose your virginity

[rock hunter]

Your DNA can decide when you lose your virginity


There is no right or wrong time to trade in your V-card (if you believe virginity isn't just a societal construct). Your DNA, however, might influence when your "right" time is.

A study published this week in the journal Nature Genetics identified 38 spots on the human genome that might hold some sway over when we get busy for the first time.

The study found the variants by collecting blood samples, as well as data on when people lost their virginity or gave birth to their first child, traits that are closely linked. Researchers then looked for a correlation between each DNA variation and the age at first sex (AFS) or age at first birth (AFB).

The study also found that the age at which a person goes through puberty also greatly influences the age at which a person has sex for the first time. The younger a person reached puberty, the younger their AFS would be. This also, then, links the age at which a person has sex to potential health threats, such as their likelihood to develop Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which are genetically linked to the age of puberty.

If those factors weren't adding enough stress to a person's decision to do the deed, the study also found that the younger a person is when they have sex for the first time, the more likely they are to become addicted to cigarettes, according to data collected from the Tobacco and Genetics Consortium.

On the flip side, when it comes to intelligence, the two were positively correlated; a person's perceived intelligence tended to increase with the age at which they had sex for the first time.

Slightly unsurprising, a lower AFS also was associated with traits linked to risk-taking personalities. The researchers concluded that the genetic effect on AFS can be attributed to a combination of both personality and physical traits, such as a combination of being a risk-taker and reaching puberty earlier. Aka every parent's nightmare.

http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/redeye-your-dna-can-decide-when-you-lose-your-virginity-20160419-story.html

[crossover]

that sounds like bs to me since virginity is a social construct anyways

[Dante]

As crossover said - BS study. Virginity is a social - and to some still a religious - construct. You'd be hard pressed to tell me with a straight face that every single "nerd" with the huge "bottlecap" glasses stuck on a computer loses it at the same time as the high school's football team's "jock" captain.

Otherwise my cousin, indeed a risk taker [she is, after all, a stunt / aerobatic airplane pilot], would have first had sex when she was a young teen given she reached puberty rather young. But as like myself she was raised in an Asian country and due to this our mentality is different than European peers she didn't lose her virginity until she got married at age 30. Otherwise I'd have expected her, given this study, to be like many other young puberty individuals and losing it "behind the school shed" - crude as that sounds my father says that girls / boys were that "easy" in his north American home city when he was a brat.



A better summary / study would have been self-control vs. lack of self-control as the study mentions intelligence vs risk-taking [the act now, think later behavior]. I wonder how many of the subjects have problems with "addictions" - e.g. gambling, drinking, smoking, etc. I might be looking at it from a jaded perspective but I work at a specialized clinic that treats drug addicts - most of our clients are young [average age is early twenties], with children, and very few of them [and for our small town we have an alarming number of clients] have anything resembling self-control.

[Piquerobi]

Percent of students who are virgins by course

http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/04/intercourse-and-intelligence.php

http://i62.tinypic.com/kcgnyt.png

[crossover]

As crossover said - BS study. Virginity is a social - and to some still a religious - construct. You'd be hard pressed to tell me with a straight face that every single "nerd" with the huge "bottlecap" glasses stuck on a computer loses it at the same time as the high school's football team's "jock" captain.

Otherwise my cousin, indeed a risk taker [she is, after all, a stunt / aerobatic airplane pilot], would have first had sex when she was a young teen given she reached puberty rather young. But as like myself she was raised in an Asian country and due to this our mentality is different than European peers she didn't lose her virginity until she got married at age 30. Otherwise I'd have expected her, given this study, to be like many other young puberty individuals and losing it "behind the school shed" - crude as that sounds my father says that girls / boys were that "easy" in his north American home city when he was a brat.



A better summary / study would have been self-control vs. lack of self-control as the study mentions intelligence vs risk-taking [the act now, think later behavior]. I wonder how many of the subjects have problems with "addictions" - e.g. gambling, drinking, smoking, etc. I might be looking at it from a jaded perspective but I work at a specialized clinic that treats drug addicts - most of our clients are young [average age is early twenties], with children, and very few of them [and for our small town we have an alarming number of clients] have anything resembling self-control.

there's other factors as well such as sexual abuse. sexual abuse affects people in different ways. there's some who are repulsed by sex, and there's others who experience a stokholm syndrome type effect and grow to like the 'abusive' acts and regularly seek out 'sex' as a result. then there's those who don't fall into either category.

[Lugus]

Percent of students who are virgins by course

http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/04/intercourse-and-intelligence.php

http://i62.tinypic.com/kcgnyt.png

Law students refused to answer ;)

[Dante]

there's other factors as well such as sexual abuse.

Indeed, sexual abuse does play a factor. The person doesn't have to be a victim themselves - witnessing their mother for example been abused in such a fashion can have the same result. Now a sexual abuse victim may see sex as repulsive. Others, depending on how they were treated / their self-esteem \ even their family setting [forgoing the sexual abuse], might get a warped perception of sex. The "love" aspect is something peodophilic relatives are said to play on.

And that's the thing this "study" is poor at best. I mean have sex early = younger age for first child. Duh - sort of goes hand in hand doesn't it [sex early / kids early]? It'd be more interesting if the people have sex at 15 didn't have kids until mid to late 30s.

Risk takers vs. intelligence - what is the definition of "risk" .. having sex young. Depending on where the person grew up, as well as their family influence / social influence [there is a lot of over sexualization in media / movies nowadays] / peer pressure, having sex young is as "common" as a stop sign.


To me this "study" is like doing a "study" to find out that the sky is indeed blue in color.