The Science Behind DNA Romance For Online Dating & Couples Compatibility

Key Research Papers

MHC Based Attraction (aka Chemistry) and Relationship Choice

DNA Romance predicts "Chemistry" using DRom 1.0, an algorithm that analyses Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) confirmed to influence relationship choice in several independent studies. Here we present just a few of the research papers we evaluated in order to develop DRom 1.0 .

Dandine-Roulland et al., 2019

Dandine-Roulland C, Laurent R, Dall'Ara I, Toupance B and Chaix R (2019) Genomic evidence for MHC disassortative mating in humans. Proc. R. Soc. B 286: 20182664.

*** This study on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and mate choice in humans suggests that while couples in Northern Europe tend to exhibit MHC-dissimilarity, potentially indicative of a biological influence on mate choice, social and/or cultural factors in other regions, like Israel, may override or obscure such biologically-driven mating preferences.

Birnbaum et al., 2019

Birnbaum GE, Zholtack K, Mizrahi M & Ein-Dor T (2019) The Bitter Pill: Cessation of Oral Contraceptives Enhances the Appeal of Alternative Mates. Evolutionary Psychological Science 5: 276–285.

*** Hormonal contraceptives alter women's mate preferences towards more nurturing men, but ceasing their use reverts these preferences, enhancing attraction towards more genetically compatible men, especially during high-fertility phases, potentially motivating a pursuit of alternative mates.

Wedekind., 2019

Wedekind C (2019) A predicted interaction between odour pleasantness and intensity provides evidence for major histocompatibility complex social signalling in women. Proc. R. Soc. B 285: 20172714.

*** The paper describes the connection between Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) and odor preferences in humans, debating previous findings and analyzing how armpit shaving and other factors may influence the perception of body odor and its linkage to MHC, with a reanalysis of past data revealing that odor pleasantness and intensity can interact with MHC dissimilarity in influencing social signaling through scent, implicating a nuanced relationship between MHC, odor perception, and social communication.

Wu et al., 2018

Wu K, Chen C, Moyzis RK, Nuno M, Yu Z and Greenberger E (2018) More than skin deep: Major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-based attraction among Asian American speed-daters. Evolution and Human Behavior 39(4):447-456.

*** In a speed-dating context, women, but not men, showed preferences for partners based on Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) complementarity through SNP analysis, with different SNPs influencing attraction directionally based on proximity to major HLA genes, and MHC-based indices held comparable influence to self-reported personality attributes in predicting second date offers for both genders.

Henningsson et al., 2017

Henningsson S, Hovey D, Vass K, Walum H, Sandnabba K, Santtila P, Jern P, Westberg L (2017) A missense polymorphism in the putative pheromone receptor gene VN1R1 is associated with sociosexual behavior. Transl Psychiatry 7(4):e1102.

*** The study finds a significant association between a polymorphism in the VN1R1 gene, related to the human vomeronasal type-1 receptor 1 (part of the system mediating effects of pheromones), and sociosexual behavior in women, particularly relating to one-night stands, suggesting that chemosignaling might play a role in modulating human social interactions.

Burger et al., 2017

Burger D, Meuwly C, Marti E, Sieme H, Oberthür M, Janda J, Meinecke-Tillmann S and Wedekind C.(2017) MHC-correlated preferences in diestrous female horses (Equus caballus). Proc. R. Soc. B 284: 20171314.

*** This study investigated the influence of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes and testosterone levels on female horse mating preferences, finding that mares demonstrated elevated interest towards MHC-dissimilar stallions during their diestrous phase (non-reproductive period), but other non-MHC linked male characteristics, possibly like physical attributes or behavioral cues, could override MHC influences during their estrous (reproductive) phase, with the context and cycle phase being pivotal in mate choice.

Sherlock et al., 2016

Sherlock JM, Sidari MJ, Harris EA, Barlow FK, Zietsch BP (2016) Testing the mate-choice hypothesis of the female orgasm: disentangling traits and behaviours . Socioaffect Neurosci Psychol. 6:31562.

*** The study suggests that women experience varying orgasm frequencies with different partners, with those inducing higher orgasm rates being perceived as more humorous, creative, warm, faithful, and better-smelling, and also being more attentive to their partner's sexual satisfaction, partially supporting the mate-choice hypothesis of female orgasm which posits it as a potential mechanism for selecting high-quality mates.

Kromer et al., 2016

Kromer J, Hummel T, Pietrowski D, Giani AS, Sauter J, Ehninger G, Schmidt AH, Croy I (2016) Influence of HLA on human partnership and sexual satisfaction . Sci Rep. 6:32550.

*** The study indicates that in humans, HLA (a genetic component of the immune system) dissimilarity can influence mate selection and sexual satisfaction, potentially through the detection of olfactory cues related to genetic compatibility, similarly to mechanisms observed in other animals, promoting genetic diversity and resilience in offspring.

Wlodarski and Dunbar., 2015

Wlodarski R. and Dunbar RIM. (2015) What’s in a Kiss? The Effect of Romantic Kissing on Mate Desirability . Evol Psychol. ; 12(1): 178–199.

*** This study found that perceived romantic kissing ability affects evaluations of potential mates, increasing desirability particularly for women in casual sex contexts, and while visual cues can override the impact of kissing-related information in certain mating scenarios, the influence of attractive visual information appears more potent for men than for women, alluding to the multifaceted role of kissing in human mate selection.

Burger et al., 2015

Burger D, Dolivo G, Marti E, Sieme H and Wedekind C.(2015) Female major histocompatibility complex type affects male testosterone levels and sperm number in the horse (Equus caballus). Proc. R. Soc. B 282: 20150407.

*** This study examines how the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) influences male reproductive strategies in horses. The research revealed that when stallions were exposed to females with dissimilar MHC types, they exhibited higher testosterone levels and produced a larger number of sperm per ejaculate compared to when they were exposed to MHC-similar mares, highlighting that MHC-linked signals can indeed impact male reproductive physiology.

Christakis and Fowler., 2014

Christakis NA and Fowler JH (2014) Friendship and natural selection. PNAS 111: 10796–10801.

*** The study demonstrates that humans tend to form friendships with individuals who have similar genotypes—akin to the level of fourth cousins—across the entire genome, and while certain genotypes are positively correlated (homophilic), others are negatively correlated (heterophilic) among friends, with particular gene sets related to olfactory and immune system playing a role in friendship formation, proposing that friends might act as "functional kin" in humans.

Laurent and Chaix., 2012

Laurent R and Chaix R (2012) MHC-dependent mate choice in humans: Why genomic patterns from the HapMap European American dataset support the hypothesis BioEssays. 34(4):267-276

*** This study provides evidence supporting MHC-dependent mate choice in humans by analyzing genomic patterns.

Lie et al., 2010

Lie HC, Simmons LH and Rhodes G (2010) Genetic dissimilarity, genetic diversity, and mate preferences in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior 31: 8–58.

*** This study explores the influence of genetic factors, particularly the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), on mate preferences in humans, discovering that males tend to prefer MHC-dissimilar females in both short-term and long-term mating contexts, while genetic diversity impacts both male and female partner preferences to enhance genetic diversity in offspring.

Lie et al., 2010

Lie HC, Rhodes G and Simmons LH (2010) Is genetic diversity associated with mating success in humans? Animal Behaviour 79(4):903-909.

*** This study indicates that in humans, particularly females, genetic diversity, especially within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), is associated with greater human mating success, while no significant association was found in males.

Chaix et al., 2008

Chaix R, Cao C, and Donnelly P (2008) Is Mate Choice in Humans MHC-Dependent? PLOS Genetics 4(9).

*** The study indicates that while European Americans show evidence of MHC-disassortative mating patterns, this pattern varies across populations, suggesting MHC's influence on mate choice can be context-dependent and potentially shaped by various factors.

Schwensow et al., 2008

Schwensow N, Fietz J, Dausmann K, Sommer S (2008) MHC-associated mating strategies and the importance of overall genetic diversity in an obligate pair-living primate . Evol Ecol. (22) 617-636

*** The study explores mate choice in the fat-tailed dwarf lemur, finding females prefer males with greater MHC-genetic diversity and lower MHC overlap as both social partners and genetic fathers, supporting genetic incompatibility, highlighting a complex interplay of "good-genes-as-heterozygosity" and "disassortative mating" hypotheses in primate mating strategies.

Wedekind., 2007

Wedekind C (2007) The Major Histocompatibility Complex and Perfumers’ Descriptions of Human Body Odors Evolutionary Psychology.5(2): 330-343

*** This experiment reveals a connection between the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) and the verbal descriptions of human body odors by professional perfumers, suggesting MHC influence on human olfactory perception and possibly, mate selection, given the MHC's critical role in immune system functioning and previously noted impact on body odor and mate choice.

Garver-Apgar et al., 2006

Garver-Apgar CE, Gangestad SW, Thornill R, Miller RD and Olp JJ (2006) Major histocompatibility complex alleles, sexual responsivity, and unfaithfulness in romantic couples Psychol Sci, 17(10): 830-835.

*** In the context of romantic couples, the study finds that as the proportion of shared Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) alleles increases, women’s sexual responsivity to their partners decreases and they report more extra-pair sexual partners, suggesting that MHC-dissimilarity might play a role in sexual attraction and partner selection, potentially driven by underlying genetic and reproductive strategies to enhance offspring immunocompetence by maintaining genetic diversity.

Roberts et al., 2006

Roberts CE, Gosling LM, Carter V and Petrie M (2006) MHC-correlated odour preferences in humans and the use of oral contraceptives Proc. R. Soc. B 275, 2715–2722

*** This study investigates how oral contraceptives influence women's preferences for certain male odours, which are known to be influenced by genes in the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). Previous research has indicated that female preference for MHC-dissimilar male odour may function to increase offspring heterozygosity or minimize inbreeding. Interestingly, it has also been suggested that women using oral contraceptives tend to prefer the scent of MHC-similar males, which runs contrary to this logic. The study utilized a longitudinal design to test women before and after initiating contraceptive pill use. While there were no significant changes in preferences between MHC-similar and MHC-similar men during the follicular cycle phase in general, it did unearth that single women tended to prefer the odour of MHC-similar men, whereas women in relationships leaned towards the odour of MHC-dissimilar men. This latter finding aligns with established preferences in romantic contexts.

Wedekind., 2006

Wedekind C (2006) The Intensity of Human Body Odors and the MHC: Should We Expect A Link ? Evolutionary Psychology. 4:85-94

Pause et al., 2006

Pause BM, Krauel K, Schrader C, Sojka B, Westphal E, Mu¨ller-Ruchholtz W, and Ferstl R. (2006) The human brain is a detector of chemosensorily transmitted HLA-class I-similarity in same- and opposite-sex relations Proc. R. Soc. B (2006) 273, 429–437

*** This study reveals that humans subconsciously detect and respond to body odors from individuals with similar HLA (Human Leucocyte Antigen) genetic markers, which might play a critical role in social interactions and mate selection by acting as subtle social signals within both same-sex and opposite-sex relationships.

Next Study

Study content goes here

Martins et al., 2005

Martins Y, Preti G, Crabtree CR, Runyan T, Vainius AA and Wysocki CJ (2005) Preference for Human Body Odors Is Influenced by Gender and Sexual Orientation . Psychological Science, 16(9) 694-702

Horton et al., 2004

Horton R, Wilming L, Rand V, Lovering RC, Bruford EA, Khodiyar VK, Lush MJ, Povey S, Talbot CC Jr, Wright MW, Wain HM, Trowsdale J, Ziegler A, Beck S (2004) Gene map of the extended human MHC. Nat Rev Genet 5(12):889-899

*** This paper provides a comprehensive gene map of the human MHC, a pivotal region in the vertebrate genome for infection and autoimmunity due to its essential role in both adaptive and innate immunity, highlighting its significant content related to paralogy, polymorphism, immune functionality, and its association with various diseases, providing a comprehensive view stemming from the assimilation of data from several large-scale studies.

Jacob et al., 2002

Jacob S, McClitock MK, Zelano B and Ober C (2002) Paternally inherited HLA alleles are associated with woman’s choice of male odour . Nature Genetics, 30:175-179

*** The study found that women prefer the body odor influenced by a single variance in HLA (human MHC) allele, with a woman's capacity to distinguish and prefer certain odors notably being based on HLA alleles inherited from her father and not her mother; this suggests that paternally inherited HLA-associated odors influence odor preference and might function as social cues, even despite a milieu of potential odors derived from a variety of genetic and cultural factors.

Milinski and Wedekind., 2001

Milinski M and Wedekind C (2001) Evidence for MHC-correlated perfume preference in humans . Behavioural Ecology 12(2):140-149

*** The study explores the relationship between HLA types (specifically HLA-A, -B, -DR) and their ratings of various scents for personal use, with certain HLA types (e.g., HLA-A2) showing consistent scent preferences. However, when it came to preferences for a partner's scent, the correlation was largely insignificant, aligning with the hypothesis that individuals select perfumes for personal use to possibly enhance or amplify their own immunogenetic revealing body odors, rather than to alter the perceived scents of their partners.

Wedekind et al., 1995

Wedekind C, Seebeck T, Bettens F And Paepke AJ (1995) MHC-dependent mate preferences in humans. Proc.R.Soc.Lond.B. 260:245-249.

*** This study found that people tend to prefer the body odors of potential mates who have different immune system genes than their own, but this preference changes for women on birth control.

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How similarities or differences in MHC alleles can influence family planning

MHC similarity between couples is known to cause issues with family planning, here are some of the peer-reviewed papers describing the role of MHC similarity and human reproduction .

Jokiniemi et al., 2020

* found that sperm viability was associated with partners' HLA dissimilarity, indicating that cervical mucus may mediate post-copulatory selection based on genetic compatibility.

Jokiniemi A, Magris M, Ritari J, Kuusipalo L, Lundgren T, Partanen J and Kekäläinen J (2020) Post-copulatory genetic matchmaking: HLA-dependent effects of cervical mucus on human sperm function Proc Biol Sci., doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1682. Epub 2020 Aug 19.

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Mosaad et al., 2020

women with RM

Mosaad YM, Abdel-Dayem Y, El-Deek BS and El-Sherbini SM (2011) Association between HLA-E *0101 homozygosity and recurrent miscarriage in Egyptian women . Scand J Immunol. 2011 Aug;74(2):205-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.2011.02559.x.

in HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, and HLA-DRB1 when
Shankarkumar U, Pawar A, Gaonkar P, Parasannavar D, Salvi V, and Ghosh K (2008) HLA allele associations in idiopathic recurrent spontaneous abortion patients from India J Hum Reprod Sci. 2008 Jan;1(1):19-24. doi: 10.4103/0974-1208.39592.

Ober., 1999

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* describe the relationship between HLA similarity at individual alleles, as well as HLA haplotypes as indicators for increased risk of fetal loss among Hutterite couples .

Ober C (1999) Studies of HLA, fertility and mate choice in a human isolate . Hum Reprod Update 5(2):103-107.

The Science Behind Relationship Compatibility

DRom 1.0 Predicts Chemistry & Mismatches Relatives

Personality Compatibility Rating

How Different Personality Types Interact in Relationships

Key Research Papers

MHC Based Attraction (aka Chemistry) and Relationship Choice

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How similarities or differences in MHC alleles can influence family planning

women with RM Mosaad YM, Abdel-Dayem Y, El-Deek BS and El-Sherbini SM (2011) Association between HLA-E *0101 homozygosity and recurrent miscarriage in Egyptian women . Scand J Immunol. 2011 Aug;74(2):205-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.2011.02559.x.

in HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, and HLA-DRB1 when Shankarkumar U, Pawar A, Gaonkar P, Parasannavar D, Salvi V, and Ghosh K (2008) HLA allele associations in idiopathic recurrent spontaneous abortion patients from India J Hum Reprod Sci. 2008 Jan;1(1):19-24. doi: 10.4103/0974-1208.39592.

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"accordion-collapse collapse"role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="headingNew3-a"> * results of a 10 year study that demonstrated increased fetal loss rates among Hutterite couples matching for HLA antigens .

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women with RM

Mosaad YM, Abdel-Dayem Y, El-Deek BS and El-Sherbini SM (2011) Association between HLA-E *0101 homozygosity and recurrent miscarriage in Egyptian women . Scand J Immunol. 2011 Aug;74(2):205-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.2011.02559.x.

in HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, and HLA-DRB1 when
Shankarkumar U, Pawar A, Gaonkar P, Parasannavar D, Salvi V, and Ghosh K (2008) HLA allele associations in idiopathic recurrent spontaneous abortion patients from India J Hum Reprod Sci. 2008 Jan;1(1):19-24. doi: 10.4103/0974-1208.39592.