By Eddie Wrenn

PUBLISHED: 10:29 EST, 13 June 2012 | UPDATED: 10:29 EST, 13 June 2012

Research in Italy suggests that a 'gay gene' survive through the generations via family members

Researchers believe that male homosexuality may be due to a gene carried by mothers.

Evolution suggests that homosexuality as a trait would not last long, as it discourages sex, with women and therefore procreation.

But a study by Andrea Camperio Ciani, from the University of Padova in Italy, spots a correlation between gay men and their mothers and maternal aunts, who tend to have significantly more children than the relatives of straight men.

They theorise that this leads credence to the 'balancing selection hypothesis', which suggest that a gene which leads to homosexuality also leads to high reproduction among their female relatives.

As such, while the 'gay gene' may not get passed down directly, it will survive through the generations via the family.

The gene or genes which causes this behaviour is not yet known, but the report by Ciani suggests that it resides on the X chromosone, of which men inherit one.

Originally, the team considered the hypothesis that the gene would affect men and women in different ways - making the man homosexual, and making females more promiscuous.

Read more:
'Gay gene' survives through generations as female relatives of homosexual men 'have more babies'