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Chandler Burr

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A Separate Creation: The Search for the Biological Origins of Sexual Orientation Hardcover – June 13, 1996

by Chandler Burr (Author)

4.5 5 ratings

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A full-length investigation by the journalist who wrote the widely-read "Homosexuality and Biology" article for Atlantic Monthly updates readers on the latest findings in neurobiology, endocrinology, and genetics about the biological basis for sexual orientation. Tour.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Hyperion
Publication date

June 13, 1996
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0786860812
ISBN-13

978-0786860814
See all details

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Burr's detailed, elegantly written report takes us to the front lines of research into a possible biological or genetic basis for homosexuality. He dispassionately reviews the scientific and political controversy surrounding the report in 1991 by gay British neuroanatomist Simon LeVay that a cluster of cells in the brain's hypothalamus is larger in straight men than in gay men. National Cancer Institute molecular geneticist Dean Hamer's 1993 finding that a specific region of the X chromosome is linked to homosexuality in some men led to intense debate over how a "gay gene" might function in creating a homosexual orientation. Boston University geneticist Richard Pillard theorizes that the sexual centers of gay men's brains are not "defeminized"?a hormone-regulated process that routinely occurs in the embryonic brains of male heterosexuals. Burr, whose 1993 cover story in the Atlantic Monthly led to this book, ponders the ethical issues swirling around Affymetrix, a Santa Clara, Calif., company that is building a semiconductor chip made of silicon and human DNA that may make possible widespread testing for a gay gene. Illustrated. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Burr is that rare bird, the journalist who writes well about science. Here, seemingly acting out of the journalistic lust for controversy, he reports on the neurological, endocrinological, and genetic inquiries into why some people are homosexual. But although he regularly notes the politics involved and concludes with a chapter comparing the conflict over homosexuality with the Renaissance battle between church and science over heliocentrism, Burr concentrates on science and sends us on a modern odyssey full of intellectual adventure and revelation. He explains how one researcher discovered a possible difference between homosexual men and others in a particular neural nucleus in the brain; how the "gay gene" (actually, an allele, or alternative form of a gene) was found and how it works; and how genetic surgery (contemplated to be nonintrusive) might alter sexual orientation in adults. However far afield from the subject of sexual orientation Burr seems to stray, the side trips always reconnect with the main road. To counteract how the popular press has misrepresented certain research findings, such as that apparent gay brain difference, Burr reports what the researchers think their discoveries' significances are: the brain difference's discoverer actually claims his findings show only that further similar research holds promise for investigating sexual orientation. Burr also relays the counterarguments, many of them more persuasive, of scientists who think particular findings are either not so significant, misleading, or downright erroneous. Enthralling--unputdownable!--this may be both the gay studies book of the year and the popular-science book of the year. Ray Olson

From Kirkus Reviews

A thorough, often riveting review of research on homosexuality and male-female differences. ``Amid the chaos of debate is the virtual certainty that the biological origins of sexual orientation will become known to us,'' writes journalist Burr, who penned a controversial 1993 article on the subject for the Atlantic Monthly. He has to be congratulated for providing a fine summary and preview of what is politically one of the hottest topics today. He does it by stressing the science, by using lengthy quotes from the investigators, and by asking questions that go beyond the disputes and data to tap the attitudes and philosophies of the scientists themselves. The recent furor dates to 1993, when National Cancer Institute investigator Dean Hamer reported that sexual orientation was at least in part due to maternal inheritance of a gene located on the X chromosome. But Burr and his corps of experts underscore that genes are not destiny and exhort all to bury forever the nature/nurture dichotomy. The X locus Hamer has found is a part of the biological picture, and to explore it, Burr treats the reader to a primer on fetal development, the role of androgens and estrogens in creating males from the ``default'' female pattern, and the influence of hormones on the brain. His concluding chapters touch on the heart of the political/social/ethical dilemmas--the guarantee that there will be not only tests for the sex-orientation gene (or genes) but micro- gene-chips that will tell you what could be in store for your potential offspring--with all the Brave New World scenarios that engenders. Burr ends with a brief commentary on the conflict between science and religion and the peculiar irony of the current debate, which finds conservatives plumping for homosexuality as an immoral ``lifestyle choice'' while liberals may say it's all in the genes. By this time the savvy reader--thanks to Burr's excellent exposition--can say, A pox on both their houses. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hyperion; First Edition (June 13, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0786860812
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786860814
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #875,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,095 in Anatomy (Books)
- #4,210 in Behavioral Sciences (Books)
- #38,603 in LGBTQ+ Books

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Julie Vognar

"You'd have to be an idiot..."

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2007

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My favorite part of the book is Hamer (the geneticist who discovered Xq28--the GAY-1 gene, responsible for the gayness of 17% of the gay male population) saying"....you have to be sure first that the trait isn't chosen before you look for its gene." He pauses, incredulous, "Can you imagine any sane, reputable biologist spending years of their life and their resources looking through chromosomes for a gene for something that's CHOSEN? I suppose you could do it, but you'd have to be a complete idiot because it would be the equivalent of staking your entire scientific career and reputation on finding a gene for"--he searches for an example--"being a Methodist."

OR

"Personality has been uprooted, modified, ironed, tamed, altered. And through it all, no Prozac capsule, no psychopharmaceutical, no hormone, no drug, no surgical procedure* has ever changed anyone's sexual orientation. It seems, Weiss noted with a raised eyebrow, that our sexual orientation is an even more deeply rooted part of us than our personality."

Interesting, exciting, and sometimes really funny, the book is accessible to even those of us who had trouble with first year algebra and geometry...though an occasional chart or set of figures will give such people pause (don't give up! Go on to the next sentence...).

As far as being wide-ranging is concerned, I once read a short story in which a guest lecturer in a 10th grade high school science class based his entire lecture, and the following discussion, called "The Genetics of Baseball"(sic) on what he had learned from this book...

*see pages 124-125 for some of the horrors we learned from the Nazis and--used--in the 1950s.

4 people found this helpful

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G. L. Rowsey

A CAVIL CONCERNING GENETIC NON-RESEARCH

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2003

I enjoyed this book enormously and learned a great deal about homosexuality and about genetics. I especially appreciated Chandler Burr's letting the researchers speak for themselves, and got used to his (and their) not crossing all the t's and dotting the i's when discussing not-simple subjects. Some of what the researches say is wide-ranging and quixotic, but all of it is pretty consistently thought-provoking. For example, there's a statement on page 275 by David Botstein ("of Stanford"), having to do with genetic research, violence, IQ, and blacks (and nothing to do with homosexuality.) Chandler Burr writes: ". . .consider the search for the gene (sic) for violence." Botstein picks it up:

"I think there's more scientifically to that one, a greater likelihood of finding it, more than IQ. But it's COMPLETELY unacceptable at the moment. You can't even talk about it. Go to any university, research center, no one -- NO ONE -- will talk to you about this. Why? Simple. Because of the fear that there will be a racial correlation. And there could be. . .and I have some sympathy for this fear, mean (sic) that any scientific evidence linking some undesirable trait with black people will be used as an excuse for explicit or implicit genocide. Okay? That fear is not totally irrational. . ."

Geneticists everywhere are afraid of finding a gene for violence in "black people" in America? Huh? Well, the only way I could explain researchers fearing that they will find a "black" gene for violence instead of a "non-black" gene for violence is that their research would be based on disregarding the incidence of inter-racial violence in America (presumably, by defining inter-racial violence as a product of a "prejudice" gene, not a "violence" one?). But isn't that explanation absurd? Or despite having read this book, do I still fail to understand how genetic research experiments must be designed? Like I say, thought-provoking.

Presumably most geneticists working on DNA are white. And presumably in America a lot of geneticists are infected with the same myth-viruses as the mainstream public at whom corporations direct their advertisements and programming. But good golly, miss molly!! NO university or research center will talk about the gene for violence? I say let the chips fall where they may. Knowledge is knowledge. And as a white I'm not much concerned that blacks will want to impose eugenic solutions on me once research shows it is whites who have violence genes. Such measures would constitute violence, you see, and blacks would lack the genes for it.

7 people found this helpful

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Pro_Student

Decent but not great.

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2013

I was really excited when I stumbled across this book and the beginning had me quite captivated. However, I feel like the book loses momentum, drags on, and spends the last 200 pages or so beating the dead horse of a point - that we don't know (an might never know) the biology of sexual orientation. Nevertheless, that is not reason to pass judgement or diminish the fact that sexual orientation is not a choice. I did enjoy the analogy of sexual orientation and handedness and thought it was a unique and valuable perspective.
A word of caution: this book assumes NO scientific knowledge or understanding on the part of the reader. That may or may not be a good think. For instance, Burr drones on and on about basic genetics that most people should have picked up in high school. If you didn't, GREAT you won't be lost at all. If you did, you will want to skip over some major sections.
All in all, I thought it had some good ideas and information but became tedious and repetitive and could have easily done the same job in half the size.

Helpful

BearMaster

Five stars because they won't let me give it ten

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2001

This book is wide ranging, covering topics as diverse as handedness (and how to tell if a rat is left handed), bird songs, vision problems in siamese cats, and far, far more than I ever wanted to know about the reproductive tract of hyenas. It all comes together beautifully, scientific explanations simple enough to be understood by the layman but thorough enough to insure understanding. It is also a fascinating look at genetic research at the end of the 20th century, and how technical problem are sometimes easier to solve than political ones.
Buy it, read it, loan it to family and friends. Give it to anyone who still thinks that sexuality is a choice. The only thing wrong is that it's gone out of print, but I hope that's because the author is preparing a second edition.

14 people found this helpful

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