Dating Site Brings in DNA Matchmaking

Spitting in a test tube could be the first step toward finding true love, according to a new online dating business that says it is the first to offer DNA-based matchmaking. SingldOut.com analyzes the saliva samples members send in for genes that influence how people respond to emotions and for genes that affect the immune system, both of which have been linked to long-term compatibility. The results are posted on users' profiles. "There is a science behind attraction," the site's co-founder tells USA Today.

SingldOut is working with a service called Instant Chemistry, which carries out the testing for what it calls "biological compatibility." The DNA matching is "just revolutionary. It's never happened in the genetic testing industry or the dating industry," Instant Chemistry's CEO tells Elle, adding that his company's test showed that he and his wife are "86% compatible." The director of education for the American Society of Human Genetics, however, says the science involved is still in the early stages and it would be impossible to predict long-term compatibility based on the small number of genes SingldOut is looking at. "If this is a marathon, we're still inside the first mile," he says. (A mathematician found a different way to meet the right partner online—cracking OKCupid's algorithms.)