SingldOut.com is offering matchmaking based on the person’s DNA

Chemistry talk! Dating website tests DNA and makes matches

Do the genes have the answer to people’s love life?

In the crowded field of dating websites, SingldOut.com is the first offering matchmaking based on the person’s DNA.

“There’s a science behind an attraction,” said in the interview with USA TODAY Network Elle France, SingldOut’s co-founder.

The website partners with a service that tests DNA, Instant Chemistry, for “biological compatibility” for a long-term relationship.

So, how it works: Person gets in the mail an Instant Chemistry DNA kit when he or she signs up for a membership of SingldOut. Membership price is $199 for 3 months, $249 for 6 months or $299 for twelve months. Members take also a psychological assessment.

The kit include a tube for a member’s saliva. He or she spits in that tube, sends it to Instant Chemistry and gets a result in a week, which is posted on his or her online dating profile.

Company tests two “markers” – serotonin uptake transporter that is charged for how people react to negative and positive emotions, and genes influencing the immune system. Research says there’s a strong correlation between the people in long-run relationships having diverse versions of serotonin genes and diverse immune systems, Ron Gonzalez said, Instant Chemistry’s co-founder.

“With online dating, people have socioeconomic factors to try to match on – religion, how much they make. This is the other layer on top of that so people can better get matches,” said Gonzalez.

But science of using the genes to predict long-run compatibility is in its infancy only, said Mike Dougherty, a director of education for Human Genetics American Society.

“If it is a marathon, we are still inside the first mile,” said he.

When it comes to the succeeding relationships determining, there’re so many other environmental factors and genes that are into play, said Dougherty. For instance, the research on immune systems and couples doesn’t tell us how huge role a factor actually plays in selection of a mate.

The dating website is “looking at a small amount of genes, and people simply can’t extrapolate from those genes a prediction to long-run compatibility,” said he.

Gonzalez also said that he does not want the DNA tests to be understood as “deterministic.”

“If I’d predict with a certainty of 100% who person will fall in love with, this would be awesome,” said he. “No technology can actually do that. We’re very realistic and cognizant. We know many variables happen when people fall in love.”