A new study from Cambridge University has revealed that genes may play a role in determining when you lose your virginity. The study involved over 380,000 participants where it has successfully identified the specific gene differences that can effect at what age we hit puberty, first give birth, and even lose our virginity.
Also, a study of more than 125,000 people was published in Nature Genetics, where it was identified the gene variants that affect when puberty starts, lose our virginity and have our first child.
Lead author of the study, Dr. John Perry stated that this work has shown that the age of when a person has his first sexual intercourse is also influenced by genes. Also, the age at when someone loses their virginity is hugely influenced by social factors like family history and social pressure.
According to Dr. Perry, they “were able to calculate for the first time that there is a heritable component to age at first sex, and the heritability is about 25%, so one-quarter nature, three-quarters nurture.”
Which is the “laid” gene?
Scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge analyzed the gene records of 59,357 men and 66,310 women, between the ages of 40 and 69, where it was recorded in the UK Biobank, a national health study.
The results that were thrown to the team lead them to identify about 38 gene variants that are also associated with age at first sexual intercourse, some of which were strongly linked to other genes that are already known to be involved in the brain development.
But genes can’t determine exactly when a person loses their virginity, but those gene-based traits such as impulsivity can have major effects on their sexual behavior.
Genes are linked to everything
One of the variants in the “CADM2” gene was found to be associated with a higher chance of having a risk-taking personality that could also lead to having a correlation with earlier age at first sexual intercourse, and a greater number of children over a lifetime, that’s what risks are about, aren’t they?
Also earlier studies from the same team have found that at earlier onsets of puberty, it can be linked to increased long-term risks for illnesses like diabetes and even cancer. Dr. Ken Ong, author of this study has determined that these same factors can have an impact at a much younger age.
This hasn’t been the first time that a university does a study on how genes influence the first time someone has intercourses since a similar study was conducted at the California State University back in 2009. It had a smaller sample size, but it also found a genetic link to the ages at which subjects lost their virginity, so this isn’t a coincidence at all.
Source: Nature Genetics