想在網上相親 未來可能需要先測DNA大綱

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 , 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.

如今的婚戀交友網站五花八門，總有一款適合你。這些網站通過宗教背景、飲食偏好、外貌身材等各種標準來爲你篩選伴侶，有的甚至專門服務於擁有傳統觀念的鄉村居民，比如。照這樣發展下去，總有一天擇偶標準將不再限於共同的興趣愛好，而開始涉及到個人基因信息。

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是一家聖地亞哥的初創企業，他們推出的新交友網站就設計出一種專屬的計算方法，通過DNA分析和心理測試來爲單身人士配對。

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.

目前市面上的婚戀網站大多由男性創建，因此，由兩位女性創建的SINGLDOUT倒有些物以稀爲貴。亞娜o巴亞德擔任首席執行官，艾麗o弗蘭斯則是銷售總監，二人建立婚戀網站的想法來源於自己的擇偶經歷。

“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.”

“在擇偶問題上，生物界和數字世界之間存在着差異，SINGLDOUT是第一家彌合這種差異的婚戀網站。”巴亞德說，“這是婚戀交友網站的進步。”

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.

這家網站主要面向閒暇時間不多的白領人士，讓他們能在第一時間就找到自己感興趣的個人資料。擁有電商背景的巴亞德說：“從DNA的角度來看，我們發現可以通過基因比對結果來確定兩個人是否來電。”而且，網上個人資料可以造假，DNA卻不能。

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.

與SINGLDOUT合作的Instant Chemistry是一家位於多倫多的實驗服務公司，負責進行DNA測試，並確定會員的基本基因屬性。採集DNA的過程非常簡單：會員打開已預付郵資的信封，在採集盒中提供唾液樣本，然後寄往Instant Chemistry。這只是找到緣分的第一步，要確定約會對象還需要進行大數據分析。

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.

分析主要針對兩項特定的DNA數據。其一是血清素傳輸基因的長度，它可以決定人的情緒性格。研究表明，血清素傳輸基因較短的人大多比較感性，而基因較長的人則比較沉穩。憑藉其獨家運算技術，SINGLDOUT向兩位可能有緣的會員發送基因比對結果，並且詳細介紹兩人如何在實際生活中產生交集。

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.)

另一個數據是關於調節人體免疫功能的白細胞抗原系統。通過對這項指標的分析，可以確定兩人在生理上是否互相吸引。SINGLDOUT引用了多項研究結果來支持其“異類相吸”理念。【其中之一是2006年發表於《精神科學》（Psychological Science）的一項研究結果。該項研究發現，男女雙方的基因匹配比例越高，女方對男方的性敏感程度就越低，對男性的吸引力也越低，而比例較低的男女反而越高】。

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.”

最後一步是一個15分鐘的心理問卷調查，用於確定情感能力。問題會通過人們的行爲來評估一個人的社會性格，比如開朗或內斂、喜歡支配還是服從、可以接受的親密程度等。“作爲一名職業紅娘，我不知道在他們來見我之前有過多少次見光死的約會。”弗蘭斯表示，“我們的方法可以讓你在見面之前就知道兩人是否來電。”

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

或許吧。不過SINGLDOUT也承認不能保證約會成功，他們做的更像是爲一段關係事先做好鋪墊。

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.

該網站三個月的會費爲149美元，六個月則是199美元。而根據巴亞德和弗蘭斯的設想，SINGLDOUT不止是個交友網站。20億美元規模的在線交友市場競爭日趨激烈，巴亞德和弗蘭斯認爲，DNA配對蘊藏着更廣泛的商機。他們表示，公司可以利用基因圖譜做任何事情，包括從構建團隊到安排辦公室座位。

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 2015 once it gets a better sense of its member growth.

但是，現在的首要任務是增加人手。包括巴亞德和弗蘭斯在內，SINGLDOUT現在只有五名員工。本週二，這家八個月前成立的新公司宣佈獲得50萬美元的種子基金。（該公司表示，基於保密協議他們不方便透露投資者姓名。）一旦掌握了更清晰的會員增長情況，SINGLDOUT計劃在2015年1月招聘新員工。

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.

據巴亞德和弗蘭斯介紹，二人年齡都在35到40歲之間。去年冬天，兩人結識於聖地亞哥（San Diego）的一家咖啡店。弗蘭斯是一名服務周到的紅娘，當時正在爲客戶尋覓合適人選。她覺得巴亞德和自己的某位顧客很般配，但是巴亞德卻對在線交友深感厭倦，拒絕了弗蘭斯的好意。不過，兩人隨後談起了網絡交友的陷阱問題。“我們發現有些人同時使用幾個不同的交友網站，雖然網站提供了交友平臺，卻並沒有真正地解決任何問題，”弗蘭斯說。於是他們發現了一個商機：在會員決定是否約會前，先通過科技手段來提高配對概率。於是，SINGLDOUT應運而生。不過，他們還要對SINGLDOUT進行測試，看它是否有足夠的長期發展潛力。

“We just have great chemistry,” says France.

“在這一點上，我們倆倒是天作之合。”弗蘭斯說。