There are hundreds of different alleles, or versions, of these genes. Scientific Match only matches people who have completely different versions of these three genes. Their clients take a swab of their cheek, send it to the company in a pre-paid envelope, and the company runs their DNA and matches them . Scientific Match operates in the Northeast and began in December of 2007. So far they can't point to a successful couple matched on their site, however. "It's really difficult to keep track of people after they leave the Web site and meet in person," said Eric Holzle of Scientific Match. "But we are building up our database of clients, and hope to have some soon." The advantage that Scientific Match and Basisnote have over dating Web sites, says Martie Haselton, a professor at UCLA who does her own smell and attraction studies, is more than 40 peer-reviewed and published studies documenting the positive effect of different MHC's in couples. "The science is real; different MHC's are good for the sexual aspects of a relationship," said Haselton. "But to commercialize it there are a number of challenges." For Basisnote and Scientific Match the biggest challenge is getting enough people to sign up for their services to create a large enough pool of people to draw from. To do that, Holzle is considering licensing his technology to other dating Web sites. "You can't have hundreds or even thousands," said Haselton. "You need hundreds of thousands in an area because in addition to the MHC, you have to screen for demographics, political preferences, etc., and these things can be real deal-breakers." Related Links: Go to Discovery Tech for interviews, slide shows and more |
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