Not-so-blind date

10 December 2008

A study offers new evidence that some populations may choose their partner based on differences in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) - an important set of immune system genes.

Professor Peter Donnelly from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford and colleagues found that American couples from the much-studied samples of the Human Polymorphism Study Centre (based in Paris) favoured MHC-dissimilar mates, though this was not the case with African couples.

Image: Anthea Sieveking/Wellcome Images

References

Chaix R et al. Is mate choice in humans MHC-dependent? PLoS Genet 2008;4(9):e1000184.