Are frogs turning gay

Chemicals in the water are turning frogs gay One of Jones' most notorious conspiracy theories is that the government is using chemicals in order to turn people gay, using a mysterious "gay bomb.

The herbicide atrazine, one of the world's most widely used pesticides, screws up the sex lives of adult male frogs, emasculating three-quarters of them and turning one in 10 into females, according to a new study by UC Berkeley's Tyrone Hayes.

Several states are considering banning atrazine, and six class action lawsuits have been filed seeking to eliminate its use. In a rant that has since become a meme and a line of t-shirts, Jones said he didn't like the government "putting chemicals in the water that turn the friggin' frogs gay." "The majority of frogs. The European Union already bars the use of atrazine.

Recent studies also found a possible link between human birth defects and low birth weight and atrazine exposure in the womb. More and more research, however, is showing that atrazine interferes with endocrine hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone — in fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles, laboratory rodents and even human cell lines at levels of parts per billion.

Those early studies were hampered by the inability to easily distinguish genetically male from genetically female frogs. As a result of these studies, the Environmental Protection Agency EPA is reviewing its regulations on use of the pesticide. Atrazine has caused a hormonal imbalance that has made them develop into the wrong sex, in terms of their genetic constitution. The 10 percent or more that turn from males into females — something not known to occur under natural conditions in amphibians — can successfully mate with male frogs but, because these females are genetically male, all their offspring are male.

The herbicide atrazine, one of the world's most widely used pesticides, screws up the sex lives of adult male frogs, emasculating three-quarters of them and turning one in 10 into females, according to a new study by UC Berkeley's Tyrone Hayes. By Robert Sanders. This article offers a. Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist, claimed that chemicals in water are “turning the frogs gay” in a viral YouTube video in The video has since been removed from YouTube as his channel was terminated in for hate speech against ethnic and sexual minorities.

Most notably, American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cited research on the effects of atrazine on frogs, which can induce spontaneous sex change or hermaphroditism, to claim that the U.S. government was "putting chemicals in the water that turn the friggin’ frogs gay" as part of a "chemical warfare operation" to increase homosexuality and. Abstract The gay frog has taken on a surprisingly prominent role in contemporary environmental are frogs turning gay.

This occurred at atrazine levels as low as 0. Reaction to the study also spawned a viral meme of right-wing Infowars podcaster Alex Jones shouting, "I don't like 'em putting chemicals in the water that turn the freaking frogs gay!". Some 80 million pounds of the herbicide atrazine are applied annually in the United States on corn and sorghum to control weeds and increase crop yield, but such widespread use also makes atrazine the most common pesticide contaminant of ground and surface water, according to various studies.

Subsequent studies showed that native leopard frogs Rana pipiens collected from atrazine-contaminated streams in the Midwest, including from areas up to 1, miles from where atrazine is applied, often had eggs in their testes. The herbicide atrazine, one of the world's most widely used pesticides, screws up the sex lives of adult male frogs, emasculating three-quarters of them and turning one in 10 into females, according to a new study by UC Berkeley's Tyrone Hayes.

Primarily associated with American shock jock Alex Jones and the so-called alt-right, fears of frogs being turned gay by hormones in water have nevertheless entered the mainstream, while gay frog memes are shared online by users from across the political spectrum. Though the experiments were performed on a common laboratory frog, the African clawed frog Xenopus laevisfield studies indicate that atrazine, a potent endocrine disruptor, similarly affects frogs in the wild, and could possibly be one of the causes of amphibian declines around the globe, Hayes said.

The work was funded by the Park Water Co. Most notably, American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cited research on the effects of atrazine on frogs, which can induce spontaneous sex change or hermaphroditism, to claim that the U.S. government was "putting chemicals in the water that turn the friggin’ frogs gay" as part of a "chemical warfare operation" to increase homosexuality and.

The herbicide atrazine, one of the world's are frogs turning gay widely used pesticides, screws up the sex lives of adult male frogs, emasculating three-quarters of them and turning one in 10 into females, according to a new study by UC Berkeley's Tyrone Hayes. Hayes, professor of integrative biology. And many males had lower testosterone levels than normal females and smaller than normal voice boxes, presumably limiting their ability to call mates.

Coincidentally, another lab in discovered a sex-linked genetic marker in Xenopuswhich has allowed Hayes to confirm the genetic sex of his frogs. In ongoing studies, Hayes is investigating whether this apparent resistance is inherited, as well as whether the sex-reversed males have more susceptible offspring. Working with the African clawed frog, Hayes and his colleagues showed in that tadpoles raised in atrazine-contaminated water become hermaphrodites — they develop both female ovaries and male testes gonads.

In the present study, we examined the long-term effects of atrazine exposure on reproductive development and function in an all-male population of African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis), generated by crossing ZZ females (sex-reversed genetic males) to ZZ males (SI Materials and Methods).