Do not be upset if the next time your offer of friendship on Facebook is rejected: it may be that it is not your appearance or character that is in the genome. New research by American scientists has shown that we prefer to be friends with people who are genetically similar to us.
After examining samples of genetic material from almost 2,000 people living in a small town, the researchers found that friends who were not related were more likely to have genetic connections than strangers. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal PNAS.
Professor James Fowler of the University of California at San Diego and Professor Nikolai Khristakis of Yale University analyzed the samples of the participants' genome in 500,000 markers distributed throughout the genome. The analysis showed that friends on average have 0.1 percent more in total at the DNA level than strangers. This is not too much, but is comparable to the relationship in the fourth generation.
Scientists claim that they have excluded family ties between all participants in the study.
True, the results of the study, not all seemed convincing. Skeptics believe that the kinship ties of immigrants could have affected this process. Allegedly, many participants in the study may be relatives without even realizing it. In addition, according to Professor Evan Charney from Duke University, one sample from each person is not enough to create a complete picture of their DNA, since there are different genes in different cells and tissues.
Skeptics believe that more research is needed using several DNA samples from a wide variety of people before a final conclusion can be made. The authors of the work, however, stand their ground. According to Christakis, one way or another, we choose as friends those who resemble our relatives.
You can treat your best friend as a brother or sister, although in reality they are not. But it is possible that these people are your distant relatives. The research results scientifically confirm the phrase that we are all one family.
The article is based on materials .
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