Do you consider your friends to be
like family members? An unspoken and often unexplainable association that feels
like you must be related to them? You may be genetically closer than you
think. And friendship may indeed be a form of
kinship.
Researchers recently did a big
study, from a DNA perspective, about what it is on a biological level that
makes friends friends. The similarities in gene signatures equated to 1% of a
person's total genetic makeup. If that sounds small remember chimpanzees and
humans share about 96% of their genetic makeup. So what's left can be crucial.
1% means friends are roughly as
related as fourth cousins, relatives who share great-great-great grandparents.
You and your friends ancestors may have been related around the Civil War.
So how do you find each other? The
scientists found that friends were most genetically similar to each other in
the genes related to their sense of smell. They speculated that may draw people
of similar tastes to congregate in the same place.
By similar tastes they mean similar
smell preferences.
So if you like the smell of
fresh-roasted coffee but the grind at Caffe Vita seems more acrid than Olympic
Crest Coffee, you may find a bird of a feather at your roast of choice.
That may be why groups of folks in
coffee shops or bowling alleys look alike. Or Walmarts. Sweatpants aren't
slovenliness. They're just dressing like you dress around family members.
It's another verification of the
importance of the sense of smell though. We use it to not only find foods we
like, but friends.
Hmm. We also share a lot of genes
with mammals generally, including dogs. Maybe they're the same genes
responsible for when dogs smell one another's behinds.
America, ya gotta love it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment