‘No, I’ll keep it simple,’ Ellie said. She was used to explaining this in layman’s terms. ‘When you see someone for the first time, you know if you fancy them or not. Well, I began by looking at what it is that appeals to different people, like whether it’s their face, their body shape, how they carry themselves, etc. And then I looked to see if there was more to it than just an instant attraction … What about those people who ended up with paired with someone completely against their usual type? I wondered if there was an element, or a gene, that makes our entire body react, bypassing what our brain is telling us. Can we be intrinsically linked – scientifically – to another?’
Tim sighed dramatically. ‘In my spare time I question how the Galactic Empire built the Death Star without the rest of the universe noticing. Meanwhile, you’re out there finding genes nobody knew existed.’
‘I’m sure your questions are just as important as mine.’ Ellie smiled. ‘Anyway, this is the sciency bit, so stay with me. It’s important I give you an idea of the scale of what I was up against. We have roughly 100 trillion cells in our bodies and inside each of them are two metres of DNA – if you unravelled them all, they’d stretch to the sun and back a hundred times.’
Tim’s eyes widened. ‘I’m still with you.’
‘And the sun is 98 million miles away from Earth … Well, we already knew women produce pheromones and men have receptors that bind the pheromone molecules, and that can create an attraction between the two. But, I discovered that when certain people are brought together, there’s a variable gene inside us that allows both sexes to produce pheromones and have receptor genes. Two heterosexual people, two gay people – it doesn’t matter. Once the right Match is made it’s set in stone. I examined the DNA of hundreds of couples, and those who shared that same gene are the ones who’d say they’d fallen for each other the moment they met. I expanded my search globally to include thousands of volunteers in my database, and kept finding the same thing time and time again – only one other person shares that gene with you. And that person is your DNA Match.’
‘I thought the idea of all animals was to shag around and propagate the species?’
‘That’s what men like to believe. But when you break it down to basics, then yes, it is.’
‘But say you’re an eighty-year-old woman and your Match is an eighteen-year-old man – there’s not much propagating going to happen.’
‘You’re right. Every single person produces their own personal pheromone – it’s like a unique fingerprint that remains the same for the rest of your life. And it’s the luck of the draw as to whether your Match is with someone who lives in the same country or whether it’s someone in a Brazilian favela. Likewise, you could be Matched with someone around your age or be decades apart. It’s actually intergenerational Matches that have helped to cause a drop in birth rates around the world. And the gene is largely responsible for falling numbers of one-night stands and STIs.’
‘Maybe it’s nature’s way of balancing us out. We’re close to finding cures for cancer and AIDS, so now nature is trying to keep us under control with love.’
‘There’ve been stranger theories.’
‘So you don’t think that true love can exist between couples who aren’t pre-destined?’
‘No, no, of course it can. What I am saying is that my discovery can help you find that person you are linked to. Should you choose not to be with them, you can still fall in love with someone else. But I found that those who have been Matched often feel something deeper and more complete. The other person is literally their other half.’
‘And how did you turn all this into a business?’
‘Once I realised the ramifications of what it might mean, it scared me so much that I sat on it for a while. It was a huge responsibility. I didn’t want to get it wrong. Because once the news got out, I’d be changing the way people thought about their relationships for ever. It’d be like telling the world I could prove there was no God or that aliens existed – people wouldn’t believe me or they’d be scared. I got many, many scientists – and I’m talking dozens – to go over my research to prove I wasn’t a crackpot. And when every test came back positive, there was no denying it. Some old uni friends who were now hedge-fund investors helped me to register Match Your DNA as a trademark and get biological patents for Australia, Europe, Japan and the USA. And then, after an announcement in the Lancet, the story went viral.’
‘I think I remember reading about it somewhere but I didn’t take much notice of it at the time.’
‘Thousands and thousands of people did, though, and got in touch wanting to send me their DNA. We sent them testing kits so they could do it for free, but to turn it into a viable business we had to start charging for the results.’
Tim nodded. This part he would know. ‘Do people always feel love at first sight?’ he asked.
‘Studies show that ninety-two per cent feel an instant, arrow-to-the-heart attraction within the first forty-eight hours of meeting. With the other eight per cent, it can take longer. But that can be down to psychological issues, anything from a mental illness like clinical depression to emotional problems like whether they have trust issues or have built-up barriers. There are a few other mitigating factors as well. People might fight those feelings, but once they’re in their Match’s presence eventually nature will always prevail.’
‘What about a regular person and someone with a genetic disorder like Down’s Syndrome? Can they be Matched?’
‘Yes.’
‘Wouldn’t that be a bit … weird?’
‘Shouldn’t people with learning difficulties have the chance to find love too?’
‘Yes, what I mean is, well, what I’m saying is …’
‘That society isn’t ready for that yet, and yes, that’s unfortunately true. But that’s out of my control.’ Ellie was surprised that Tim hadn’t read about any of this in the news. It was something that was frequently discussed, with human rights charities constantly on her case.
‘We live only about fifty miles apart. Surely the chances of us being Matched must be miniscule?’
‘They’re not as small as you think. We found that sixty-eight per cent of people are likely to be Matched with someone in their own country. We don’t know if that has to do with the fact that hundreds of generations ago we were all more closely related – small differences in our DNA can even tell us which continent we originated from. It could be that our genes are more likely to be attracted by others from a similar environment or it could be just coincidence.’
Ellie waited for Tim’s next question. She’s anticipated he’d react like this, as many others before him had. It almost felt like she was being interviewed, but she was used to people’s curiosity and was happy to indulge Tim’s.
‘You mentioned how your discovery has affected so many people’s lives for the better and for the worse,’ Tim continued. ‘How do you get you head around that? If it were me, I don’t know if I could deal with the responsibility.’
‘It’s hard sometimes,’ Ellie admitted. ‘I’ve had hate mail and death threats from people whose partners have left them to be with their Match, and from people with no Match who think it’s my fault. For every ten Matches we put together, three regular couples will split up. We’ve put thousands of dating sites out of business across the world, but on the flipside we’ve given so much work to divorce lawyers and relationship counsellors; we’ve boosted the wedding industry as people are more willing to commit knowing they’re made for each other,’ she said, almost by rote.
Tim sighed dramatically. ‘In my spare time I question how the Galactic Empire built the Death Star without the rest of the universe noticing. Meanwhile, you’re out there finding genes nobody knew existed.’
‘I’m sure your questions are just as important as mine.’ Ellie smiled. ‘Anyway, this is the sciency bit, so stay with me. It’s important I give you an idea of the scale of what I was up against. We have roughly 100 trillion cells in our bodies and inside each of them are two metres of DNA – if you unravelled them all, they’d stretch to the sun and back a hundred times.’
Tim’s eyes widened. ‘I’m still with you.’
‘And the sun is 98 million miles away from Earth … Well, we already knew women produce pheromones and men have receptors that bind the pheromone molecules, and that can create an attraction between the two. But, I discovered that when certain people are brought together, there’s a variable gene inside us that allows both sexes to produce pheromones and have receptor genes. Two heterosexual people, two gay people – it doesn’t matter. Once the right Match is made it’s set in stone. I examined the DNA of hundreds of couples, and those who shared that same gene are the ones who’d say they’d fallen for each other the moment they met. I expanded my search globally to include thousands of volunteers in my database, and kept finding the same thing time and time again – only one other person shares that gene with you. And that person is your DNA Match.’
‘I thought the idea of all animals was to shag around and propagate the species?’
‘That’s what men like to believe. But when you break it down to basics, then yes, it is.’
‘But say you’re an eighty-year-old woman and your Match is an eighteen-year-old man – there’s not much propagating going to happen.’
‘You’re right. Every single person produces their own personal pheromone – it’s like a unique fingerprint that remains the same for the rest of your life. And it’s the luck of the draw as to whether your Match is with someone who lives in the same country or whether it’s someone in a Brazilian favela. Likewise, you could be Matched with someone around your age or be decades apart. It’s actually intergenerational Matches that have helped to cause a drop in birth rates around the world. And the gene is largely responsible for falling numbers of one-night stands and STIs.’
‘Maybe it’s nature’s way of balancing us out. We’re close to finding cures for cancer and AIDS, so now nature is trying to keep us under control with love.’
‘There’ve been stranger theories.’
‘So you don’t think that true love can exist between couples who aren’t pre-destined?’
‘No, no, of course it can. What I am saying is that my discovery can help you find that person you are linked to. Should you choose not to be with them, you can still fall in love with someone else. But I found that those who have been Matched often feel something deeper and more complete. The other person is literally their other half.’
‘And how did you turn all this into a business?’
‘Once I realised the ramifications of what it might mean, it scared me so much that I sat on it for a while. It was a huge responsibility. I didn’t want to get it wrong. Because once the news got out, I’d be changing the way people thought about their relationships for ever. It’d be like telling the world I could prove there was no God or that aliens existed – people wouldn’t believe me or they’d be scared. I got many, many scientists – and I’m talking dozens – to go over my research to prove I wasn’t a crackpot. And when every test came back positive, there was no denying it. Some old uni friends who were now hedge-fund investors helped me to register Match Your DNA as a trademark and get biological patents for Australia, Europe, Japan and the USA. And then, after an announcement in the Lancet, the story went viral.’
‘I think I remember reading about it somewhere but I didn’t take much notice of it at the time.’
‘Thousands and thousands of people did, though, and got in touch wanting to send me their DNA. We sent them testing kits so they could do it for free, but to turn it into a viable business we had to start charging for the results.’
Tim nodded. This part he would know. ‘Do people always feel love at first sight?’ he asked.
‘Studies show that ninety-two per cent feel an instant, arrow-to-the-heart attraction within the first forty-eight hours of meeting. With the other eight per cent, it can take longer. But that can be down to psychological issues, anything from a mental illness like clinical depression to emotional problems like whether they have trust issues or have built-up barriers. There are a few other mitigating factors as well. People might fight those feelings, but once they’re in their Match’s presence eventually nature will always prevail.’
‘What about a regular person and someone with a genetic disorder like Down’s Syndrome? Can they be Matched?’
‘Yes.’
‘Wouldn’t that be a bit … weird?’
‘Shouldn’t people with learning difficulties have the chance to find love too?’
‘Yes, what I mean is, well, what I’m saying is …’
‘That society isn’t ready for that yet, and yes, that’s unfortunately true. But that’s out of my control.’ Ellie was surprised that Tim hadn’t read about any of this in the news. It was something that was frequently discussed, with human rights charities constantly on her case.
‘We live only about fifty miles apart. Surely the chances of us being Matched must be miniscule?’
‘They’re not as small as you think. We found that sixty-eight per cent of people are likely to be Matched with someone in their own country. We don’t know if that has to do with the fact that hundreds of generations ago we were all more closely related – small differences in our DNA can even tell us which continent we originated from. It could be that our genes are more likely to be attracted by others from a similar environment or it could be just coincidence.’
Ellie waited for Tim’s next question. She’s anticipated he’d react like this, as many others before him had. It almost felt like she was being interviewed, but she was used to people’s curiosity and was happy to indulge Tim’s.
‘You mentioned how your discovery has affected so many people’s lives for the better and for the worse,’ Tim continued. ‘How do you get you head around that? If it were me, I don’t know if I could deal with the responsibility.’
‘It’s hard sometimes,’ Ellie admitted. ‘I’ve had hate mail and death threats from people whose partners have left them to be with their Match, and from people with no Match who think it’s my fault. For every ten Matches we put together, three regular couples will split up. We’ve put thousands of dating sites out of business across the world, but on the flipside we’ve given so much work to divorce lawyers and relationship counsellors; we’ve boosted the wedding industry as people are more willing to commit knowing they’re made for each other,’ she said, almost by rote.
