If you’re interested in the research Instant Chemistry has highlighted, you can find it all here!
Why do we have it listed? Because as Albert Einstein once said “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” Enjoy!
👃💡 Did you know that your sense of smell can reveal more than just attraction? It's a scent-sational world of information! 🌍✨
Research shows that we can predict someone's age, sex, health, emotions, relatedness, and even their personality based solely on their body odor. Yes, you read that right! Our noses are like finely-tuned detectors of hidden cues in the scents that surround us.
🤯 What's even more mind-blowing? These predictions based on smell are often way better than mere chance! 🎯
Discover the fascinating world of doppelgangers, the uncanny look-alikes who share an incredible resemblance despite not being twins or related! 🌟👯♀️ While they may not have emerged from the same fertilized egg, doppelgangers share an astonishing amount of DNA purely by chance. 🧬🔍 Feast your eyes on this captivating photo capturing the essence of doppelgangers, showcasing their striking similarities. These individuals are not siblings and have no familial connection whatsoever. Prepare to be amazed by the incredible genetic coincidences that make these look-alikes practically mirror images! 😮✨
Did you know that promiscuity is linked to our sense of smell? Recent research suggests that individuals who have a greater sensitivity to pathogenic smells, such as the smell of moldy food, are less likely to cheat. This could be because they are more deterred by the possibility of exposure to harmful pathogens through promiscuity. Want to learn more?
Wow, can you believe that our understanding of DNA has been turned upside down? Recent research has shown that DNA isn't the chaotic mess we thought it was - in fact, it's almost fluid! This discovery means that enzymes can easily manipulate DNA and create proteins, which could lead to amazing new breakthroughs in science. What other mind-blowing discoveries will we uncover this year?
A major sign of whether a relationship will be successful or not has been shown in research by psychologists studying a population of 40000 couples. In their research, relationship success could be predicted over 6 years by how often the couple “turned toward” each other. When a person turns toward their partner, they are making a bid for connection. The connection they’re asking for can be small, like hey, did you see that, or large, like a deeper need which needs to be met. If this bid for connection is successful more frequently, the relationship is more likely to succeed. Couples who “turn toward” each other less than 33% of the time were more likely to get divorced.
Humans are growing an extra artery in our arm. When we are developing in the womb, we have an extra artery in our arm that used to vanish during development. Turns out, it’s no longer vanishing as often. In the past century, it has become 3 times more likely that a person will have an extra artery in their arm. This means that within a few generations it could become commonplace for people to have an additional artery in their arm. The speed which this change is spreading across humans is truly startling.
Do you play the stock market? Did you know that your decision to invest in the stock market is partially linked to your genetics? In an award-winning research paper, three finance professors uncover genes that affect cognition, personality and body shape also partially predict if you'll invest in the stock market. The research is of particular interest right now as wealth inequity increases as some individuals make massive gains on the stock market.
Blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes. We tend to categorize the color of people's eyes into either blue, green or brown. But eye color really isn't that straightforward. In a recent study, 61 different areas of the human genome was linked to eye color. With that many genes involved, there is huge diversity in eye color making it a very complex trait.
Research Highlighted in 2022
Scientist’s have done the study on women to look for a connection between how good a man smells and potential reproductive fitness. Now they’ve done the reverse study on men. Men found women’s body odour to be more attractive when the women’s estrogen was high and her progesterone was low…a.k.a. when she was most fertile. This research provides evidence that female body odour is a potential cue to men if a women is fertile.
Hey all you men out there. Ever wonder what the ladies are looking for in men? Well research has some answers! Heterosexual female college students ranked natural body odour as more important than “looks” in whether they were attracted to a man. But both “looks” and body odour were not ranked as the number one most important feature in an attractive man. Number 1? Being pleasant. Seems that having a shower and being a gentleman goes further with the ladies than being buff and wearing cologne. Have a great night out guys!
Getting the mood right…do we need music, lighting, the right clothes…or is it the right smells? You guessed it. If the women perceived the man’s body odour to smell good, this was linked to an enhanced sexual experience for the women. And the more sensitive women were to smell, the better their experience. It’s thought that body odours which are perceived as attractive lead to enhanced recruitment of reward systems in the brain. So go ahead, turn on the fire place, put on Drake or Ed Sheeran, but it seems smell is what’s going to take your night over the top.
With new research always being conducted, it’s not surprising that new genes which affect our relationship satisfaction are being discovered. A gene called CD38 was found to affect our personal levels of gratitude, forgiveness and trust. This is turn affected marital satisfaction. Individuals carrying the variant of CD38 which leads to high levels of trust also displayed higher martial satisfaction. Trust is an integral component of relationship success. Now we know that genetics plays a role in our ability to feel trust. Working on trust in your relationship, whether it comes naturally or not looks as though it’s essential for marriage success.
Having a healthy relationship takes work, but not having a healthy relationship takes it toll. In recent research, scientist’s have identified a casual link between relationship distress and depression. This link persists across genders, cultures and types of romantic relationships. Using couples therapy, both relationship distress and symptoms of depression were reduced highlighting the importance of healthy relationships.
Even with advances in fertility treatments, in some cases doctors are still unable to pinpoint the reason behind infertility. As a result, research into fertility continues. In a recent finding, another potential piece of the fertility puzzle has been identified. Biological compatibility has an effect on human sperm function. For fertilization to occur, a sperm must reach the egg. To help in this process, the female body produces cervical mucous which helps sperm survive longer allowing for a greater chance of fertilization. In this finding, the biological compatibility of cervical mucous from 9 women and sperm from 8 men were analyzed. The scientists then combined cervical mucous and sperm in all the different possible variations. The finding? Sperm survived longer in biologically compatible cervical mucous.
Did you know that amount of fetal testosterone you were exposed to can be estimated by your 2D:4D digital ratio?
Your 2D:4D ratio refers to the length of your index finger (2D) versus the length of your ring finger (4D). To calculate this, you would measure the length of your index finger and divide it by the length or your ring finger, on the same hand. If your index finger is shorter than your ring ringer, the ratio will be less than 1. As the number gets smaller, the greater your estimated exposure to fetal testosterone! Why is this important? How much fetal testosterone a man was exposed to affects how he much he experiences empathy.
Maybe you learned about DNA in school. Maybe you learned about it on CSI (I know I’m dating myself). Or maybe you’re learning about it for the first time now, but the way we’ve understood how DNA is stored in our cells is wrong. The first image is how we thought it was kept in the nucleus of our cells. The second image, shown in red and green, is actually how it is kept in the nucleus of our cells. This finding is fundamental in understanding how physical forces on our cells lead to changes in how genes work. This in turn could be critical for understanding health and disease.
Research Highlighted in 2021
Romantic relationships have been described as being among the most meaningful and complex social tie. Two theories guide how we try to understand this incredibly important aspect of our lives: attachment theory and interdependence theory. A commonality in both theories is the importance of trust to functioning relationships. Trust guides how we perceive the dependability of our partner and our faith in the future of our relationship. Building and keeping trust is essential to relationship success.
Research continues to add to the growing body of evidence that body odour has a significant impact on our romantic relationships. In a recent review of the subject, scientists found that how good someone smells to you affects your choice of romantic partners, provides a source of comfort in your existing relationship AND signals the breakdown of a relationship if your partner’s body odour loses its appeal. This study of biological compatibility continues to show how important this non-visual signals is for physical intimate attraction.
Our intimate partner typically plays a big role in our lives and what they bring to our lives can be very important. In fact, the more established and committedour relationship becomes, the more our mental health improves. This is of course also associated with the health of that relationship. The more healthy a relationship becomes, the greater the benefits to our mental health. These findings suggest intimate relationships are a keystone component of human functioning with potential to influence a broad array of mental health outcomes.
Our healthy romantic relationships are an incredibly important aspect of our lives. Not only do they provide emotional security, but they affect our individual health. A flourishing body of literature is showing that individuals with attachment anxiety or avoidance have more struggles with mental and physical health. However, providing support and understanding of anxiously and avoidantly attached individuals can help improve mental health and well-being.
The serotonin transporter gene we test for is associated with changes in marital satisfaction over time. This gene affects how strongly you respond emotionally to life events. The gene has two versions. The “short” version makes you respond more strongly, while the “long” version makes your response less emotionally intense. Couples who both carry the “short” version are more likely to have declines in marital satisfaction over time. Instant Chemistry helps uncover this genetic predisposition, which is entirely out of your control, butmay be damaging your relationship, and empowers you with ways to move past this predisposition.
Research, discovered this year, has identified another connection between our genetics and relationship satisfaction. The research shows that a gene which affects our ability to trust and show gratitude and forgiveness is associated with lasting martial satisfaction. Couples carrying the version of this gene which increases trust, gratitude and forgiveness had lasting martial satisfaction over the whole study, which lasted from the time of marriage to 3 years after marriage.
More and more research is showing how our genes contribute to our intimate, romantic relationships. Genetic factors play a role in how likely we are to divorce. Genetic factors play a role in how likely we are to get married. Genetics have been shown to play a role in marital conflict, pair-bonding, empathy, communication and relationship quality and functioning. It’s becoming more and more clear that understanding how our genetics contribute to our relationshipis so important for a happy, healthy, long lasting relationship.
The platypus is categorized as mammal, but it is the oddest mammal of them all. They lay eggs AND nurse their young with milk after they hatch. The platypus has 10 sex chromosomes (5X and 5Y for male and 10X for female), sweat milk through their skin and have genes from birds, reptiles and mammals. They are also venomous and their fur is fluorescent. But if that's not enough to blow your mind for the day, I leave you with this....why did the platypus cross the road? To prove he wasn't a chicken.
In Switzerland in 1995, a landmark research study was done. Women were asked to smell shirts worn by men and rank how attractive the men were based on smell alone. They had never met these men. The results showed these women ranked men with “HLA genes” unlike their own as more attractive. This is biological compatibility. Since this publication, many other studies have confirmed up to 40% of physical attraction can be determined through our genes alone. There is now strong scientific evidence that biologically compatible partners enjoy greater attraction to one another and have superior relationship stability.