Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
It has been said that friends are the family you choose for yourself. That may be truer than ever as a new study claims that friends who are not biologically related still resemble each other at a genetic level.
The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, contained 1,932 subjects split into two groups – one consisted of pairs of unrelated friends while the other group was composed of unrelated strangers.
According to CNN, scientists examined 1.5 million markers of gene variation to accurately measure the genetic degree to which each person was similar to his or her paired friend or stranger.
“Looking across the whole genome, we find that on average, we are genetically similar to our friends,” said James Fowler, co-author of the study and professor of medical genetics and political science at UC San Diego.
“We have more DNA in common with the people we pick as friends than we do with strangers in the same population.”
Over the past decade, Fowler and co-author Nicholas Christakis, professor of sociology, evolutionary biology and medicine at Yale, have studied the science behind social networks. They’re seeking a biological explanation behind some long held social notions.
“We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘Birds of a feather flock together,’ but we want to know why,” Fowler said.
The researchers were able to conduct what they claim is the first genome-wide analysis correlating genotypes between friends.
“We have found that we share about one per cent of our genes with our friends,” said Fowler. “On average our studies indicate we are as genetically similar to our friends so much as we are with our fourth cousins or people who share great-great-great grandparents.
“Friends tend to smell things the same way. In prehistoric days, for example, people who liked the smell of blood might hunt together, whereas gatherers might prefer the smell of wildflowers.”
Nowadays, Fowler says, that translates into people who like the smell of coffee congregating at coffee shops.
Researchers say that our DNA could be a driving force behind the activities we are drawn to and the social activities we engage in. As such, we are more inclined to interact and foster friendships with people who are genetically similar.
