基因决定了你配偶的类型

 　　Chances are, you’re going to marry someone a lot like you. Similar intelligence, similar height, similar body weight. A new study of tens of thousands of married couples suggests that this isn’t an accident. We don’t marry educated people because we happen to hang around with educated people, for example—we actively¹ seek them out. And these preferences are shaping our genomes.

　　何谓缘分？缘分就是你的终成眷属是一个与你很像的人。你们智力水平相当、身形相似，就连体重都差不多。科学家对多位夫妇进行调查后得出结论，你们之所以能够结婚，这绝不是一个偶然。当你嫁给了一个受过良好教育的人，并不是因为你恰好出现在他的生活中，而是我们积极的将他们寻找出来，而这种追寻源自们的基因。

　　“This is a very exciting paper,” says Matthew Keller, a behavioral geneticist at the University of Colorado in Boulder³ who was not involved with the work. “Much ink has been spilled on why mates are correlated on so many traits.”

　　美国科罗拉多大学波尔得分校的行为遗传学家Matthew Keller表示，这真的是一篇令人震惊的论文，足够多的论据解释了为什么夫妻双方在很多方面都具有类似的特质。

　　To conduct the study, Matthew Robinson, a postdoc in the lab of geneticist Peter Visscher at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues turned to large databases that include information on human physical and genetic² traits. They homed in on a person’s genetic markers for traits such as height and body mass index (BMI) to predict the height and BMI of their partner. If the underlying⁴ genetic traits suggested an individual was tall, for example, their partner should also be tall. Then the researchers compared the partner’s actual height against the predicted height.

　　Matthew Robinson在澳大利亚布里斯班昆士兰大学遗传学家Peter Visscher的实验室中做博士后工作，他和同事们将研究方向转向了大数据，这其中包括人类生理及遗传性状的信息。他们通过追踪个人的遗传标记特征，例如身高和身体质量指数(BMI)，来对其伴侣的相关数据进行推测。如果被测对象的潜在基因特征是高个子，那么他的伴侣也应该是高个子。随后，研究人员将被测人员伴侣的实际身高和预测身高进行了对比。

　　When the scientists performed these calculations for more than 24,000 pairs of husbands and wives of European ancestry⁵, they found a strong statistical⁶ correlation⁷ between people’s genetic markers for height and the actual height of their partner. They also found a statistically⁸ significant, but weaker, correlation between people’s genes⁹ for BMI and actual BMI in partners: People had actively chosen partners with similar genes to themselves, the team reports today in Nature Human Behaviour.

　　当科学家们对超过24000对欧洲血统的夫妻进行计算时，发现他们伴侣的预测身高和实际身高之间具有很强的相关性。同时，他们还发现伴侣的实际BMI和预测BMI之间也具有统计学意义，但是相关性较弱。研究团队在《Nature Human Behaviour》上表示，人们会主动选择跟自己有相似基因的伴侣。

　　This is evidence in humans of assortative mating, which is a form of sexual selection in which individuals with similar?traits?mate?with one another more frequently than would be expected under a random¹⁰ mating. It has been documented in nature, such as when more brightly colored eastern bluebirds mate with each other and when duller colored bluebirds pair up—or when big Japanese common toads¹¹ mate, whereas small ones stick to themselves. Such assortative mating increases relatedness in families and can help their offspring survive better as long as the trait under selection (larger size, for example) continues to be beneficial—helping males acquire and fend¹² off mates, for example.

　　这正是人类协调性交配的证据，在人类的性选择中，个体更倾向于寻找与自己相似的交配对象，而不是随机交配。这种例子在自然界中已经存在，例如色彩鲜艳的东部蓝知更鸟会找同样色彩艳丽的交配对象，毛色差的蓝知更鸟则会找同样毛色差的鸟儿。再比如日本蟾蜍也是大个跟大个交配，小个跟小个交配。这种协调性的交配能够增进家族亲缘关系，同时经过选择的体征(例如体型大小)能够增加其后代生存的优势，例如帮助雄性获得配偶。

　　The researchers also tested for assortative mating in other traits, such as years of education, in 7780 couples in a U.K. database. They looked for concordance among partners in genetic markers previously¹³ linked to years of education, and found a remarkably¹⁴ high correlation. This doesn’t mean that people choose mates based on actual years of education, but it likely implies that they select for similar interests, which are associated with level of education, Robinson says.

　　研究人员还对其他协调交配的特征进行了测试，例如针对英国7780对夫妇的受教育年限进行调查。结果他们发现，配偶教育年限的预测值和实际值也具有很高的相关性。Robinson说道，这并不意味着人们选择配偶会基于对方受教育的时间，但他们却是基于类似的标准，而这种标准和教育程度有关系。

　　These findings suggest that mate choice “affects the genomic architecture of traits in humans,” Robinson reported in the paper. Assortative mating boosts the odds¹⁵ that a trait, such as height, will be passed to offspring. That has implications for genetic models that predict how likely it is that members of a family will inherit a trait, whether it’s a disease such as schizophrenia or a physical trait, such as height.

　　Robinson在论文中写道，这种交配选择会影响人类基因组结构的特征。协调性交配原则增加了某些体征传承的几率，例如身高，这种体征则会传给后代。这还会对基因模型造成一定影响，例如我们可以预测后代中有多大几率继承这种特征，以及这种被继承的特征是不是一种病症，例如精神分裂的物理表征。

　　基因.jpg

　　The next step, says Keller, is to use the new method to “understand why spouses¹⁶ are similar on many other, behavioral traits, such as IQ, political preference … and psychiatric disorders¹⁸.” Robert Plomin, a behavioral geneticist at King’s College London, adds that new research suggests humans with autism, schizophrenia, and attention deficit¹⁹ hyperactivity disorder¹⁷ tend to marry each other, and that the new method can explore whether those choices, too, are rooted in DNA²⁰.

　　下一步，Keller表示会用新的方法来了解为什么在其它方面配偶双方也会很相像，例如智力、政治偏好。。。甚至是精神疾病。英国伦敦大学国王学院的行为遗传学家Robert Plomin补充说，新的研究表明，患有自闭症、精神分类和多动症的人们也倾向于跟同类结婚。新的研究方法能够探知这些选择是否源自我们的DNA。

　　Robinson hopes to use his method to test more similarities in couples, including his own marriage. “Yes, we both have Ph.D.s and we’re both tall,” he says. “We fit the bill.”

　　Robinson希望用自己的方法对配偶双方间更多的相似性进行测试，甚至包括自己的婚姻。他说，没错，我跟我老婆都是博士，我们长得都很高，你看，我们很符合实验要求么。

1 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

4 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

5 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

6 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

7 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

8 statistically   

ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看

参考例句：

• The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
• The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。

9 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

10 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

11 toads   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All toads blink when they swallow. 所有的癞蛤蟆吞食东西时都会眨眼皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Toads have shorter legs and are generally more clumsy than frogs. 蟾蜍比青蛙脚短，一般说来没有青蛙灵活。 来自辞典例句

12 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

15 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

16 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

17 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

18 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

20 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。