Gene Blamed for Being Promiscuous

A new study has identified a genetic link behind promiscuity adding that if a dad was a playboy, there's a good chance that his sons and daughters will also be promiscuous. Moral objections aside, promiscuity can benefit a male species because it often results in more offspring with greater genetic diversity.

Daughters of such fathers and mothers would also be more likely to cheat, he added.

"Other research has concluded that sons of promiscuous fathers are two times more likely to cheat than others," Discovery News quoted lead author Wolfgang Forstmeier as telling Discovery News.

Forstmeier, a researcher in the Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, and his colleagues wondered about the genetic connection after conducting studies, such as behavioral surveys, on humans.

They then decided to investigate the phenomenon among zebra finches, which are also socially monogamous.

"That means a male and a female will hang out together as a couple; they will build nests together and share other forms of bonding," Forstmeier said. "They may also, however, engage in extra-pair mating behavior."

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In other words, like humans do from time to time, they may cheat on their primary mates.

The study has been published in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Source-ANI