While simple observation tells us that human
beings tend to socialize with similar-looking members of the race, new research
digs deeper to show a startling similarity in genetic makeup among friends.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
They say
that birds of a feather flock together, and human beings tend to choose friends
that look like them. Now surprising new results of a genetic comparison reveals
that friends share some amazing genetic similarities, raising the question of
whether we choose our friendships or are they, at least in part, determined by
genetics.
Researchers
at Yale and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), report this week in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that
“friends may be a kind of ‘functional kin.’” In other words, we tend to
befriend people who not only look similar to us but also have certain genetic
similarities to us as well. These genetic similarities are complex too.
“Your
friends don’t just resemble you superficially, they resemble you genetically,”
said Nicholas A. Christakis, a co-author on the report. Christakis is a
physician and social scientist at Yale University.
The
scientists used comparisons of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among
friends and strangers to determine to what extent and in which genetic regions
or genes the similarities and differences occur. The similarities in genetic aberrations,
the SNPs, were on the level of fourth cousins, the researchers note.
“We can do
better than chance at predicting if two people are going to be friends if all
we have is their genetic data,” said James Fowler, senior author and professor
of medical genetics and political science at UCSD.
What was
particularly interesting among the findings of the study is that the
genetic similarities were mainly in two types of genes: olfactory, or sense of
smell, and immunity. Even so, the overall genetic similarity amongst friends is
only about one percent. There are no single genes that link friends, either.
Still, the implications are tremendous.
“Social
networks are an important engine for human evolution,” Fowler said. “Our
friends are sort of like family members. They’re functional kin.”
No comments:
Post a Comment