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Nature and Environment

Choosing your Partner - Why the Nose Knows

August 4, 2014

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology have discovered that fish looking for a mate choose based on a surprising factor - they are able to smell whether or not a partner’s immune system will complement their own.

https://p.dw.com/p/1AxTy

The scent is produced by substances emitted by certain immune cells. According to the researchers, this system makes a lot of sense, because it allows a re-optimization of a species’ immune system from generation to generation. Now the scientists have hypothesized that human beings also unknowingly make choices about partners based on similar olfactory criteria.