I recognize the cute one by the T-shirt
People prefer genetically dissimilar partners and find them by smell
Evgenia Efimova, Vesti
People can tell by the smell which partners are preferable for them from the point of view of genetics. Confirmation of this fact was found by researchers from the University of Paris Diderot.
They studied the main histocompatibility complex (GCGS) in humans, as well as the ability of a person to determine it with the help of smell.
Let us explain that we are talking about a large region of the genome or a large family of genes found in vertebrates and playing an important role in the work of the immune system and the development of immunity.
It is known that all vertebrate organisms, including humans, have a unique set of proteins located on the surface of cells and protect the body from the invasion of bacteria and viruses. These proteins are encoded in a region of the genome, which is called GCGS.
As the authors of earlier works found out, the individual features of this system are similar to a kind of fingerprints and play a role in choosing a sexual partner.
In addition, studies have shown that both humans and animals benefit by choosing a genetically dissimilar partner.
One of these genetic differences is the composition of their main histocompatibility complex. At the same time, when two people with different HCGS give birth to a baby, he receives the advantages of both parents.
In recent years, scientists have increasingly begun to say that people can really "feel" the composition of a potential partner's HCGS and that people tend to prefer partners who are different from themselves.
It was assumed that it was the olfactory system that helps a person make a choice. Actually, many scientists have tried to find out if this is really the case, but the results have varied greatly.
To put an end to this issue, French experts conducted the most thorough study of this issue.
They examined data taken from the database of genotypes and phenotypes of the US National Institutes of Health.
The researchers worked with genome-wide data from more than 800 couples living in Europe and Israel. They studied how similar or dissimilar their GCGS are.
It turned out that the GCGS of European couples did not coincide with each other. Moreover, such a difference could not be explained by a banal accident.
The greatest differences were observed in married couples living in the Netherlands. At the same time, scientists have not revealed the same degree of dissimilarity of the GKGS in Israeli spouses.
In their opinion, the cultural customs of Israel, where the choice of a partner is limited due to social status and family traditions, can interfere with the "genetic" choice of people.
As the researchers suggest, their results provide convincing evidence of a person's ability to feel the HCGS of other people and give preference to partners who are different from themselves.
A scientific article based on the results of the work was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Dandine-Rowland et al., Genomic evidence for MHC disruptive mating in humans).
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru