Scientists say they are one step closer to proving that homosexuality is the result of biological factors rather than learnt behaviours, following recent experiments with fruit flies.

During studies conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago, researchers found that through genetic manipulation and drug administration they were able to switch the insects from straight to gay and back again within hours.

The scientists say they have discovered a ‘gender blind gene’ (GB) and that by mutating this gene they were able to influence the fruit flies’ sexual orientation.

“It was very dramatic,” researcher David Featherstone told ABCNEWS.com.

“The GB mutant males treated other males exactly the same way normal male flies would treat a female. They approach her, sing her a song, lick her…and mount her.”

“I never thought we’d be able to do that sort of thing, because sexual orientation is supposed to be hard-wired. This fundamentally changes how we think about this behaviour,” he added.

Previous studies have shown that it is possible to turn female mice into lesbians by altering the way they smell the secretions, or pheromones, of other mice. However, concerns are being raised as to how the research may be used.

“While science can tell us something about why we exhibit certain feelings and behaviours, it can’t answer the moral question of what to do with them,” John Corvino, professor of philosophy at Wayne State University in Michigan told ABCNEWS.com.

“Should we embrace them? Tolerate them? Change them? Because even if we could change people’s sexual orientation, it doesn’t follow that we should.”

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