想在网上相亲 未来可能需要先测DNA

The world of online dating has something for everyone. Sites are dedicated to picking partners based on religion, dining preferences, pure physical attraction and the good, old-fashioned values of cowboy life (at Farmersonly.com, of course). So it was only a matter of time before a website took the next step beyond shared interests and tapped into genetic profiling.

如今的婚恋交友网站五花八门，总有一款适合你。这些网站通过宗教背景、饮食偏好、外貌身材等各种标准来为你筛选伴侣，有的甚至专门服务于拥有传统观念的乡村居民，比如Farmersonly.com。照这样发展下去，总有一天择偶标准将不再限于共同的兴趣爱好，而开始涉及到个人基因信息。

SINGLDOUT, a San Diego-based start up, has devised a proprietary algorithm that matches singles based partly on DNA compatibility and partly on the results from a psychological questionnaire.

SINGLDOUT是一家圣地亚哥的初创企业，他们推出的新交友网站就设计出一种专属的计算方法，通过DNA分析和心理测试来为单身人士配对。

In a rare twist for the dating website industry, which is dominated by male company founders, SINGLDOUT was started by CEO Jana Bayad and chief marketing officer Elle France, who hatched the idea based on their own dating experiences.

目前市面上的婚恋网站大多由男性创建，因此，由两位女性创建的SINGLDOUT倒有些物以稀为贵。亚娜o巴亚德担任首席执行官，艾丽o弗兰斯则是销售总监，二人建立婚恋网站的想法来源于自己的择偶经历。

“SINGLDOUT is the first online dating website that is going to bridge the gap between the biological and digital worlds of love,” says Bayad. “It is the evolution of online dating.”

“在择偶问题上，生物界和数字世界之间存在着差异，SINGLDOUT是第一家弥合这种差异的婚恋网站。”巴亚德说，“这是婚恋交友网站的进步。”

The website is aimed at time-crunched professionals who want to know from the outset that they will click with the person who looks good in a profile. “When we looked at it from a DNA viewpoint, we realize you could actually determine chemistry between two people based on their genes,” says Bayad, who has an online sales background. Plus, DNA doesn’t lie, unlike so many dating profiles.

这家网站主要面向闲暇时间不多的白领人士，让他们能在第一时间就找到自己感兴趣的个人资料。拥有电商背景的巴亚德说：“从DNA的角度来看，我们发现可以通过基因比对结果来确定两个人是否来电。”而且，网上个人资料可以造假，DNA却不能。

SINGLDOUT works with Instant Chemistry, a Toronto-based lab services company that administers the DNA testing and determines the basic genetic profiles of members. For the member, this part is as easy as opening a prepaid envelope, providing a saliva sample in the DNA kit and sending it back to Instant Chemistry. It’s a clinical way to start a budding romance, but no more so than relying on big data to set up a date.

与SINGLDOUT合作的Instant Chemistry是一家位于多伦多的实验服务公司，负责进行DNA测试，并确定会员的基本基因属性。采集DNA的过程非常简单：会员打开已预付邮资的信封，在采集盒中提供唾液样本，然后寄往Instant Chemistry。这只是找到缘分的第一步，要确定约会对象还需要进行大数据分析。

The research hones in on two specific results. The first is the length of the serotonin transporter gene, which influences emotion. Research has suggested that those who have the shorter gene tend to be more emotionally sensitive while those with the longer gene tend to be more emotionally stable. Based on the results of their proprietary algorithm, SINGLDOUT sends the two potential partners a compatibility percentage with a broad explanation of how they might interact in real life.

分析主要针对两项特定的DNA数据。其一是血清素传输基因的长度，它可以决定人的情绪性格。研究表明，血清素传输基因较短的人大多比较感性，而基因较长的人则比较沉稳。凭借其独家运算技术，SINGLDOUT向两位可能有缘的会员发送基因比对结果，并且详细介绍两人如何在实际生活中产生交集。

The second DNA test looks to determine physical attraction based on the human leukocyte antigen system, which regulates the immune system. SINGLDOUT points to a few pieces of research to make the argument that opposites attract here. (One piece of evidence is a 2006 study published in Psychological Science that found as the proportion of these genes couples shared increased, women’s sexual responsiveness to their partners decreased and their attraction to men other than their primary partners increased.)

另一个数据是关于调节人体免疫功能的白细胞抗原系统。通过对这项指标的分析，可以确定两人在生理上是否互相吸引。SINGLDOUT引用了多项研究结果来支持其“异类相吸”理念。【其中之一是2006年发表于《精神科学》（Psychological Science）的一项研究结果。该项研究发现，男女双方的基因匹配比例越高，女方对男方的性敏感程度就越低，对男性的吸引力也越低，而比例较低的男女反而越高】。

The final component is a 15-minute psychological questionnaire that looks to determine emotional capability. The questions assess human behavior based on social characteristics, such as outgoing or autonomous, dominant or submissive, and comfort level with intimacy. “As a professional matchmaker, I don’t know how many times people tried online dating before they came to me, only to find they didn’t have chemistry with that person,” says France. “This will tell you if you have chemistry offline.”

最后一步是一个15分钟的心理问卷调查，用于确定情感能力。问题会通过人们的行为来评估一个人的社会性格，比如开朗或内敛、喜欢支配还是服从、可以接受的亲密程度等。“作为一名职业红娘，我不知道在他们来见我之前有过多少次见光死的约会。”弗兰斯表示，“我们的方法可以让你在见面之前就知道两人是否来电。”

Maybe. As SINGLDOUT admits, this is not a guarantee of dating success, but more like a head start into a relationship.

或许吧。不过SINGLDOUT也承认不能保证约会成功，他们做的更像是为一段关系事先做好铺垫。

Subscriptions cost $149 for three months and $199 for six months of the dating service, but both Bayad and France envision SINGLDOUT as more than a relationship aid. In the increasingly-crowded $2 billion online dating market, Bayad and France see an opening to apply their compatibility algorithm to businesses. They talk about companies using genetic profiling for everything from putting together work teams to creating the office seating chart.

该网站三个月的会费为149美元，六个月则是199美元。而根据巴亚德和弗兰斯的设想，SINGLDOUT不止是个交友网站。20亿美元规模的在线交友市场竞争日趋激烈，巴亚德和弗兰斯认为，DNA配对蕴藏着更广泛的商机。他们表示，公司可以利用基因图谱做任何事情，包括从构建团队到安排办公室座位。

First though, they need to hire a few more people. SINGLDOUT currently has five employees, including Jayad and France. On Tuesday, the eight-month-old start up announced that it had successfully secured $500,000 in seed funding. (It said it couldn’t name the investors due to a confidentiality agreement.) SINGLDOUT plans to hire more employees in January 2017 once it gets a better sense of its member growth.

但是，现在的首要任务是增加人手。包括巴亚德和弗兰斯在内，SINGLDOUT现在只有五名员工。本周二，这家八个月前成立的新公司宣布获得50万美元的种子基金。（该公司表示，基于保密协议他们不方便透露投资者姓名。）一旦掌握了更清晰的会员增长情况，SINGLDOUT计划在2017年1月招聘新员工。

France and Jayad, who gave their ages as “35 to 40,” met last winter at a coffeehouse in San Diego. France, a professional white-glove matchmaker, was shopping for her clients and thought Jayad might be a good fit for one of them. Jayad, who had tried and grew tried of online dating, took her up on the meeting. However, they quickly fell into a conversation about the pitfalls of online dating. “We found that people belong to all of these different sites, and, while it opens up the pool for them, it wasn’t really solving anything,” says France. They saw an opportunity to incorporate science to increase the odds for couples before they even decided to go on a date and SINGLDOUT was born. However, they have yet to take SINGLDOUT’s tests to see if they really are strong prospects for a successful long-term business partnership.

据巴亚德和弗兰斯介绍，二人年龄都在35到40岁之间。去年冬天，两人结识于圣地亚哥（San Diego）的一家咖啡店。弗兰斯是一名服务周到的红娘，当时正在为客户寻觅合适人选。她觉得巴亚德和自己的某位顾客很般配，但是巴亚德却对在线交友深感厌倦，拒绝了弗兰斯的好意。不过，两人随后谈起了网络交友的陷阱问题。“我们发现有些人同时使用几个不同的交友网站，虽然网站提供了交友平台，却并没有真正地解决任何问题，”弗兰斯说。于是他们发现了一个商机：在会员决定是否约会前，先通过科技手段来提高配对概率。于是，SINGLDOUT应运而生。不过，他们还要对SINGLDOUT进行测试，看它是否有足够的长期发展潜力。

“We just have great chemistry,” says France.

“在这一点上，我们俩倒是天作之合。”弗兰斯说。