All in all, the concept of finding someone compatible through testing their genes is not an impossible idea, but only if done completely right, with no random error.
Although existing technology is no where near doing this (finding a significant other or if people are compatible through their genes), there are some scientist who think it is. Meet Instant Chemistry, it is a company where you can send your and you and your significant others DNA to find out if you are compatible. It is like 23AndMe except with relationships.
So what exactly is tested in these companies?
All in all, these companies send you and your partner a spit tube to fill up. Once they receive these spit tubes they will then extracts your DNA and compare it to your partners. It is the same concept and mechanism as 23AndMe except that they test out different genes.
It seems pretty straight forward realistic, but there is more to it that they conveniently leave out.
Once they have the DNA they will test the HLA gene. The HLA gene is a gene that helps play a role in a person’s immune system. It is the HLA gene that helps a person differentiate between their body and what is not their body such a virus, or a foreign substance.
On a section of their website, they say that they do the compatibility test by testing the HLA gene as they explain that it is scientifically proven that the more dissimilar that this gene is, usually the more compatible the people are as a couple. The reasoning for this is that the more dissimilar that people are the more diverse children that they will have, and the stronger their immune system will be. This information was based off off a quite known experiment: the smelly t-shirt experiment.
This experiment is where a large group of women were asked to smell shirts where male candidates had sweat in. Then those women were asked to rank the smells from most attractive to least attractive. What they found is, what women found more attractive were typically the scent of a male with the most dissimilar HLA gene to their own. But there was a catch, women who were on birth control on average seemed to have the opposite results.
Therefore the test may work but are they really accurate? What if heterosexual couple are in a relationship for one year and at that point the female starts taking birth control. Does that mean that they are all of the sudden going to be less attracted to one another?
All in all, what this says is basically that you can find out if you are compatible with your significant other by deciding if you like the smell of their sweat instead of paying over $150 for genetic testing.
Now for Dating…
The process of being matched up through DNA compatibility is a very similar but extended version of the compatibility test.
They first test the HLA gene the exact same way that they do in the other test. Then they go a little bit farther and look at the brain chemistry.
What they do is, they look at genes that are known to be linked to a humans emotional behavior. For instance, they test dopamine, serotonin, catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), and oxytocin (OXTR). Then depending on which form a gene a person has, they will be identified as things such a worrier, practical, a thinker, etc.
The issue with this is, that it is quite ridiculous to classify a person’s traits just from the placing of a person a cytosine, or adenine in a singular gene for it is really inaccurate.
A huge part of what makes a person and their traits, is the environment they are surrounded in. For instance, if a human was raised to think lying is okay because that is what their parents told them, then the chances that they are going to be liars when they are older are really likely. It is not saying that our DNA does not to some extent determine a person’s personality, but it is not all that there is to it. Also, it is probably necessary to test more then just one singular type of gene to determine a person’s traits. To be more accurate it is most likely necessary to test over hundreds of genes, after all humans have around 24 000 genes total each. This process however would take too long and is not possible to be done accurately at the moment.
To prove the inaccuracy of this system, Instant Chemistry actually says that these results should not be used to decide if you should be with or break up with someone.
All in All…
The most common reasons for divorce usually result in infidelity, growing apart, addiction, too much conflict and so on. It is safe to say that these DNA test are not likely to predict things such as if someone’s spouse is going to cheat on them in the future.
It is no secret that some personalities get better along with others, but at what extent? Another thought to keep in mind is who and what decided what traits people have are compatible. All in all, people can believe what they want but there is no denying that what Instant Chemistry does is another version of astrology readings using genes.
In the future there are chances that more accurate versions of tests like these could give humans more accurate results, but until then there is a long way to go and they will never be 100% accurate.
Conclusion
The best way to put it and sum it up is with a quote of James Sherlock, “choice of relationship partner is an immensely complex ballet of biology, culture and circumstance: genes are just one part of the story.”
Thank you for reading. If you have any question or comment please leave them down below.
-Maggie Claus
Maggies genetic project 