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Research finds that we share genes with our friends

Research finds that we share genes with our friends

March 21, 2024

In a previous article we faced the question of whether we choose our romantic partners based on the differences we have with them or the similarities.

Today, in addition, we will analyze a recent investigation that compared the genetic similarity among friends .

Similar genetics among friends? An investigation suggests this

A recent study indicated that people from the same circle of friends they have genetic matches which could be compared to a degree of kinship of fourth-degree cousins.

Investigation

The National Science Academy has highlighted, based on a Framingham Heart Study research, that individuals choose friendships with a high degree of genetic matching. The authors of the finding They worked with a sample of 1,900 subjects and examined more than one and a half million variables and genetic markers. .


A genetic similarity to that of fourth-degree cousins

The study compared couples of friends with no relationship of kinship with couples of subjects who had no relationship or knew each other in advance. It was reported that couples of friends share 1% of genes . According to James Fowler, co-author of the research and professor of genetics in medicine, "This percentage of genetic coincidence is equivalent to that of fourth-degree cousins" .

In addition, the genetic indicators that we share with our friends are also those that are characterized by suffering changes more frequently compared to the rest of the genes, according to the researchers. The study reveals that Friendships have an influential role in our health "Health is not only based on physiological issues, but the people around us also influence it, especially friends," says study co-author Nicholas Christakis, a professor of biology, sociology and evolutionary medicine at Yale.


The key is in the 'metagenomics'

The research also concluded that the people we choose as friends often have notable differences with respect to us in their type of immune system, which can have a positive effect on both of them because it offers us a complementary immunological protection . This study supports the scientific line that points out that human beings are metagenomic, that is, we are not only a combination of individual genes, but also a mixture of genes of the people that make up our circle of friends.

Bibliographic references:

  • Original study: //ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/friends_are _...

momondo - The DNA Journey feat. Ellaha (March 2024).


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