How many broken dishes, hearts, and loves you see around?
How much pain can be prevented if people mate with those they can be happy
with? How you can be sure the person near you is the ONE?
Modern science is trying to find an evidence based
solution to the questions, and there are claims, the solution is ready.
DNA Matching
Recently, two companies (Instant Chemistry and SingldOut)
have made top news with their launch of a new direct-to-consumer genetic
testing service to help determine compatibility in intimate relationships.
SingldOut is an online dating service that operates via the professional
networking site LinkedIn and uses Instant Chemistry’s genetic testing results
to match its members. DNA results become part of each user’s profile, and
members can search for and evaluate potential matches based on their genetic
compatibility.
Instant Chemistry and SingldOut are not the first to
promote genetic testing to determine romantic compatibility. In 2008, a company
called GenePartner began to offer genetic testing to identify relationship
compatibility. Applying a similar concept are “pheromone parties” in which
singles sniff well-worn T-shirts worn by members of the opposite sex to
facilitate biological matches based on pheromones, the elusive compounds of
attraction.
Genetics and
Attraction
While genetics seems to play some role in human sexual
attraction, it clearly is not the only, or even predominant, factor determining
human mate choice. SingldOut claims that genetic tests can identify up to 40
percent of the chemistry of attraction between two people. While not denying
that genes play some role in mate selection, Mike Dougherty of the American
Society of Human Genetics contends, that the research to date does not support
quantifying the impact of genetic attraction.
In fact, the research to date is all over the place. It
has long been known, that other mammals, such as mice, selectively mate with
partners having different genetic variants of their MHC genes, which control
immune responses. A leading hypothesis is that such “disassortative” mating
will produce offspring with greater diversity in their MHC genes that will
protect them against a broader range of pathogens.
Given that all mammals display similar genetic
mechanisms, one might expect a similar genetic attraction to exist in humans,
albeit within the context of the greater complexity of human relationships.
Indeed, a 1995 study found that single women, asked to smell and pick from
sweaters worn by men, were disproportionately inclined to pick one worn by a
man with different MCH alleles from their own. This suggests that our
preference for a particular mate is influenced by our sense of smell, as is the
case with other mammals. Similarly, a 2006 study found that the more
differences in MHC genes between a romantic couple, the more likely the female
partner was to be sexually satisfied and committed to her existing
relationship.
Yet, as noted above and as is common for most genetic
research, especially as it relates to complex human behaviors such as love and
romance, the data supporting genetic attraction is highly inconsistent. A large
number of studies, involving different experimental methods and populations,
have now been reported, and they give discordant results. While some research
has supported the theory that MHC gene diversity drives human attraction, other
studies have reported different or conflicting results. A few studies have
found that humans prefer sexual partners with only moderately different or even
similar MHC variants, others have found that MHC diversity is detected by
facial shape rather than smell, and still more have found that women in
committed relationships are most attracted to men with different MHC alleles.
Some studies have also discovered that women on birth control pills tend to
prefer men with the same MHC variants, the opposite of their peers not on the
pill. As one scientific review of the entire body of data concluded, “the mixed
evidence … makes it difficult to draw definitive conclusions, [but] the large
number of studies showing some MHC involvement suggests there is a real phenomenon
that needs further work to elucidate.”
How it Works?
Into this complicated field now come direct-to-consumer
genetic testing companies such as Instant Chemistry and SingldOut. Once the
“spit, seal & mail” process is complete and the kit is received, Instant
Chemistry goes to work to analyze three specific genes in the MHC complex on
chromosome six. In assessing compatibility, Instant Chemistry also considers
the impact of the serotonin transporter gene to gain insight into one’s
emotional response to encountered situations. Married individuals with two
“short” alleles of this gene are less inclined to be satisfied long-term if the
initial marital experience boasts more negatives than positives.
Testing for STG variation might be genetic compatibility services’
best bet, because if you or your partner has two copies of the short variant of
that gene, it may result in a heightened response to either positive and
negative influences on a marriage. This might argue for a heightened awareness
of the importance of keeping a relationship on a positive keel.
About Instant
Chemistry
Instant Chemistry is a company founded by Ron Gonzalez, a
psychologist and neuroscientist, and his wife, Sara Seabrooke, a geneticist.
They said they were inspired to create Instant Chemistry
after seeing how many marriages fail.
"If we can help reduce those divorce rates by
helping couples learn more about themselves [and] really have that insight that
you would take ... 10 to 15 years to get and you could have it today, you can
imagine that that could help ease a lot of relationship tensions,"
Gonzalez said.
The key to Instant Chemistry, they said, is in the DNA.
Couples can use a test that looks at genes in the immune system. According to
Gonzalez and Seabrooke, the more differences there are between two people's
immune systems, the more attractive they will find each other.
"If you have two people come together with very
different immune systems and they have a child, the child is getting immune
system genes from both the mother and the father," Seabrooke said.
"The more diverse those genes are, the more chance the child has of
withstanding different pathogens or infections than if their immune systems
were similar between both parents."
The Instant Chemistry lab is located in Toronto, Canada.
For $199 (now $99 only as holidays sale), couples can get an Instant Chemistry
kit delivered to their house. All that has needed for the test is a bit of
saliva from each person.
Instant Chemistry Website: http://www.instantchemistry.com/
Singlout Website: http://singldout.com/
Is it Useful?
Genetic affinity testing may also have some marginal
benefit for new matches, where singles make choices with limited knowledge
about potential partners. Genetics may be one factor to consider, certainly
more relevant than astrology, psychic readings, or even material goods—such as
the type of car someone drives—that some people rely on. For existing couples,
a psychological component is likely at play, in that a high or low genetic
compatibility ranking could influence partners’ feelings toward each other. A
positive match may bring about “the test says we’re compatible so we obviously
are” thinking even if there are red flags indicating otherwise, leaving couples
to remain in relationships they might abandon in different circumstances,
whereas a low score may create or reinforce doubts in an otherwise solid
relationship.
Most importantly, genetic affinity matching is a test
case for what will be an increasingly prevalent challenge as we enter the era
of widespread whole genome sequencing. Over the next decade, we will have the
opportunity to learn about all kinds of predispositions and proclivities buried
in our DNA, from health risks to behavioral tendencies to traits affecting
abilities such as intelligence, athleticism, and musical talent. Few, if any,
of these genetic findings will be deterministic, but rather will be one set of
factors that interact with environmental and many unknown factors to produce
the unique individual each of us represents. It will be a challenge for each of
us, the media, and companies marketing products to put this information in
proper context, not ignoring it completely, but also not giving it more weight
and significance than it merits. To its credit, Instant Chemistry is not just
about genetics—it also relies on a personality assessment as part of its
compatibility calculation, which assesses a registrant’s social tendencies, dominant
and submissive inclinations, and intimacy.
Genetic affinity testing provides an opportunity to start
exploring some of the genetic influences of our lives that have long been
shrouded in darkness and mystery. As we study our own genetic tendencies, the
meaning and significance of which will be constantly updated and enhanced by
ongoing research, we may eventually have a better grasp of both what causes the
spark between two people and keeps it going and the overall significance of
genetics in this and other behaviors. In the meantime, if you think you are
ready to handle this information, and can afford to drop a couple hundred
bucks, why not, just for fun, “spit, seal & mail”?
"If you're talking about just randomly putting
people together, you have to start thinking about probabilities. What's the
probability of two people coming together who are just randomly meeting and
[being] this different from each other?" Seabrooke said of the criticism.
"It's [a] very low chance that two people have actually come together by
chance that are this diverse in their immune system."
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Additional Information:
