The DNA of Dating
by Motte Brown on 12/13/2007 at 6:00 PM
Today, if singles can't find potential mates among their acquaintances -- or among their family's and friend's acquaintances -- all they need to do is go online. I mean, it seems that out of millions of profiles you could at least find one that matches your 29 dimensions of compatibility, right?
But what do you do if even that fails? Well, you get matched by your DNA, of course.
An ABC affiliate in Boston reports on a new dating service that launched this week using DNA to help singles find that "perfect someone." Here's how:
ScientificMatch.com promises its technology will use DNA to find a date with "a natural odor you'll love, with whom you'd have healthier children and a more satisfying sex life."
How does it work?
In analyzing DNA, the company said it looks at immune system genes and identifies compatible mates from people with different immune systems.
"Nature attracts us to our genetic matches with our noses. The fact is, we love how other people smell when their immune systems are different from ours—they smell sexier," the company wrote in a release on its Web site.
That's right. For a fee of only $1,995 you too can receive a kit of cotton swabs and cheek swabbing instructions so you can find a mate with an odor you'll love.
How in the world did people mingle, meet and marry before the age of technology? I guess people back then just "settled." Or maybe they just believed something we don't anymore -- that "love is much a question of the will as it is of the emotion." Or odor, I should add.
1. keightie said the following at 7:45 PM on Dec 13:
lol. I've read that story about Ravi Zacharias' brother in his book before (I, Isaac, take thee, Rebecca), and I wholeheartedly believe that it is possible to find, choose, and be happy with a mate that way, and also that people need to stop stripping love down to something scientific and completely understandable. Where does your trust in God go when you're looking for a mate by having a computer match your DNA? What if you don't like the person that smells the most compatible with you?
That said, I do love the way my boyfriend smells. :o)
2. Tami said the following at 8:58 PM on Dec 13:
What if, after spending all this money and meeting your "smellmate," you just don't hit it off? You can't honestly say, "We don't have chemistry."
Ba-dum-bum!
Really, though... I'd rather spend the $2000* on a nice wardrobe, new hair style, and pretty perfume, and see what attention that brought, rather than this spurious smell technology. A spritz of Michael Kors gets you plenty of attention, so why bother with DNA? ;)
(*presuming I had a $2K "Find a Husband" line item in my budget)
3. brx said the following at 9:44 PM on Dec 13:
Wow, mate selection based on odor... wonder which cheek they swab. :O
4. cm said the following at 12:03 AM on Dec 14:
I hope that no Christians decide to use this service. If they do, not only would that reveal a lack of trust in God, it would support yet another company that knowingly profits from singles' desperation. (I suppose it's possible that the owners of this and other dating sites truly believe their methods are effective, but I doubt it.)
It takes some time to even detect someone's smell at first, but the longer you're around your lover*, the more you will like the way he/she smells.
* "lover" as in one who loves romantically, not necessarily a sexual partner. Using words and phrases like "mate" and "significant other" sounds as romantic as meeting your future spouse over Q-tips and DNA-testing cocktails.
5. Nate said the following at 3:32 AM on Dec 14:
I thought that was what perfume and cologne was for. lol.
Seriously, I think this must win the prize for being desperate. Who in there right mind would sign up for this? And I thought eHarmony was bad with that $50/month fee (or whatever it is). I'm a biology teacher and this sounds more like science fiction to me than science fact.
If anything, I plan to take my mother's advice and pray for my future wife. Thanks for posting this because it made me laugh. It is a reminder that if you don't put your trust in God, you don't have much to go on.
(By the way, does anybody know which immune system genes? Because the genes that produce antibodies are jumping genes and they change all the time...lol)
6. LauraW said the following at 5:45 AM on Dec 14:
As a biology major, I can't help but smile at the simplicity of the article, but the idea is actually valid. Studies have shown that body odor is linked to the MHC complex found on all body cells, which plays a key role in mounting an immune response. Genetic variety is desireable in the immune system because genetic mutation of certain cells is important in developing immune responses to particular pathogens.
In a Christian worldview, this system makes perfect sense: God made us attracted to people who are genetically different from us for the good of our children.
7. Jake said the following at 7:01 AM on Dec 14:
So how exactly are we to get a DNA sample of a potential mate that we haven't met?
Something tells me she might get creeped out.
8. Jeni said the following at 8:29 AM on Dec 14:
$1995.00 makes online matchmaking services look quite affordable!
If I had an extra $2000.00 just sitting around, I'd probably try it just for the adventure of it. And what if it worked!?!?! God does use unusual methods to accomplish His will.
9. obewan said the following at 8:42 AM on Dec 14:
Who is to say this is not a rip-off scam. Also, to be valid there would need to be a huge pool of DNA smaples.
10. kman said the following at 8:57 AM on Dec 14:
When I saw the title of the post I was thinking it was more in line with avoiding diseases that would be passed done to children type of thing.
Is there any evidence that liking the smell of your mate = a happy marriage?
11. Robert J Espe said the following at 9:06 AM on Dec 14:
I remember hearing about a similar study in college, where they took t-shirts guys had been wearing, and asked girls to smell them (don't know how they got volunteers). They took gene samples and compared them, and wouldn't you know it, the girls like the smell of the guys most genetically dissimilar. Kinda weird, and not my cup of tea, but amusing. My wife just bought me a cologne she liked the Christmas after we started dating (I mean, courting Motte/Ted ;-)
12. Adam D said the following at 9:16 AM on Dec 14:
Without showering, deoderant, shampoo, cologne, etc, people smell well kinda... stinky. Are they trying to tell us that someone out there has B.O. we would actually like to smell? People smell terrible if they don't cover it up, makes me even wonder why our pets love us so much sometimes.
13. Christina said the following at 10:30 AM on Dec 14:
This theory only solves the problem of sexual attraction - not emotional or spiritual compatability...
And the guy who asked how to get a sample of what she smells like...take her camping for a week ;)
14. Julie said the following at 1:01 PM on Dec 14:
Interesting subject, smells! They do seem to affect you on a gut level. Anyone ever had a smell bring a vivid memory to the forefront?
There's a man I've been enjoying getting to know the past few months and I realized I don't feel romantic about him because I don't really like the way he smells. However, should he start pursuing me romantically I bet I could change my mind about his scent, or, as Robert J Espe commented, buy him a cologne I did like the smell of :)
In my experience not every man has a notable personal scent (distinct from B.O. or cologne), but when my nose picks one up I tend to have definite feeling about it one way or the other. I could drink deep of the way my old boyfriend smelled. It was wonderful, and all him - not sprays or soaps.
As for genetic differences attracting, well, this man I mentioned earlier is pure Chinese genes and I'm German-Irish-etc. so that's not a guarantor. I wonder if the way people smell is partly based on their diet? I once heard that cultures that eat mostly vegetarian diets complain about the Westerner's meat stink...
In conclusion, I'd say scent is a fun "extra" but a frivolous way of choosing your lover (thanks, cm).
15. Robert J Espe said the following at 12:21 PM on Dec 15:
I should point out, that at least in the study I was familiar with, it was with clean showered people. The theory is based on pheromones, not sweat and B.O. (which is not the smell of a person, but the smell of bacteria and dirt composting on their skin, yuck!).
And as for the Irish-German, Asian thing, there is more genetic diversity inside races than between them. In other words, beyond a couple pigment genes, there is no difference between "races" as a whole, so being from another race doesn't guarantee genetic diversity (and since this theory is based on degree of difference between samples, you don't need a large pool) in the areas that count.
The general theory is this is God's (they would say nature's) way of preventing the problems associated with inbreeding and preserving "hybrid vigor" (in animal or plant breeding, crosses between pure-breds tend to be healthier and live longer than pure-breds). I actually think it is kind of neat, course I would never bother with the service when this works naturally by itself.
16. Darin said the following at 8:19 PM on Dec 15:
Now I know my problem: I SHOWER TOO OFTEN!
Seriously, I think it would be good for most of us singles if we were less intent upon finding the "perfect" match and more intent upon creating the perfect relationship. That's not to say that compatibility issues aren't important. I just think that many of us have gone to such extremes with our compatibility standards that only one person in 10,000,000 could ever pass our standards for perfection...and that makes for pretty poor odds.
17. Jennifer E. Jones said the following at 2:36 PM on Dec 16:
This idea is crazy, and there's no way I would do this.
... But if I'm still single at 40, send me that link again.
:-)
18. kman said the following at 8:51 AM on Dec 18:
-I just think that many of us have -gone to such extremes with our -compatibility standards that only one -person in 10,000,000 could ever pass -our standards for perfection...and -that makes for pretty poor odds.
And if that perfect person has the same standards... one in 1 trillion? (been a long time stats class) and there's only say 3 billion people of the opposite sex on the planet.... you get the idea.
A better idea is to work on yourself, become that person that special someone will want to marry.
19. erik heavey said the following at 10:38 AM on Dec 18:
Well, I also have a biology degree, but that has nothing to do with the fact that I LOVE the way my girlfriend smells. My constant pursuit of smelling her is actually something she finds "weird" in our relationship. I can't really explain why it makes sense for me to use my larger than average nose to show my affection, except to simply state that God has a beautiful sense of humor.
I would go as far as to encourage all you young Christian adults out there to smell your significant other as often as you can.