We often see couples who have lived together for many years, look alike, and we say they have “YourMatches”.
Appearance is mainly determined by innate factors such as genetics and junk genes, but acquired factors such as evolutionary processes and intestinal flora also cause changes in appearance.
The evolutionary process changes the appearance relatively slowly. Due to long-term co-living, the originally different gut bacteria microecological environment between husband and wife has become more and more similar, and the intestinal flora is gradually becoming similar to the couple. The personalities and behavioral habits of both parties have an impact, which leads to more and more similar personalities and behavioral habits between husband and wife. Some couples even have what ordinary people call “YourMatches”.
YourMatches refers to the fact that two people have lived together for a long time, and their expressions and actions will become more and more like each other. American scientists have pointed out that a person’s physical appearance corresponds to their own personality, and what kind of appearance they have, what kind of personality they will have.
When the personalities of the two parties are too different, although there will be a strong attraction when they fall in love, after marriage, such differences in personalities will not easily resonate with the couple.
On the contrary, if the appearance features and personalities of both parties are similar, it is easy to find a common language after marriage. Also, the longer a couple lives together, the better their relationship, and the more they look like each other. British scientists recently set out to investigate the cause of “YourMatches”.
During the study, they asked 11 male and 11 female participants to rate the age, attractiveness and personality characteristics of 160 couples through photographs. The researchers found that the participants rated the physical appearance and personality traits of both men and women who were in fact married similarly.
Also, the longer couples spent together, the more similar people rated them. In this regard, the researchers speculate that the same life experiences may have a subtle influence on the appearance of couples.
Regarding YourMatches, and these explanations, people with “YourMatches” tend to come together.
People are all self-identified in their hearts. In the process of choosing a mate, if people meet people with the same interests and like-mindedness, they are more likely to be attracted and come together.
1. Congenital factors - genetics
Manfred Kessel’s research team at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, used 3D head magnetic resonance imaging and 2D portrait photos to map facial landmarks to estimate facial features. They then performed genome-wide association analyses, which are used more frequently to find genetic variants in special human relationships.
Genome-wide association analysis helps explain why identical twins look nearly identical. At the same time, siblings also had very similar faces compared to unrelated people. Thus, appearance or facial shape is largely regulated by genes.
Appearance mainly refers to the face, that is, a person’s facial features or facial shape. Since the appearance is given by the parents, it must be related to heredity. Therefore, it can be said that the genes determine the appearance. To be precise, the genes of the parents determine the appearance of a person. The researchers mapped the facial features of approximately 10,000 people of European ancestry from various countries and then used genomic associations to look for DNA associated with facial morphology in these 10,000 people.
It was found that there are 5 genes that can determine people’s appearance, or that these 5 genes have a significant impact on people’s face shape. The five genes are PRDM16, PAX3, TP63, C5orf50, and COL17A1, three of which are related to craniofacial development and disease.
2. The role of junk genes
Junk genes or junk DNA refers to 95%-98% of the genes in the genome that do not code for any proteins or enzymes. But now research has found that the junk genes that occupy the vast majority of the genome are not junk or no function, but unrecognized treasures.
Researchers have discovered that one of the functions of junk genes is to regulate the activity of genes, acting as an instruction to control the genes. Some special proteins (transcription factors) that control gene on and off can specifically recognize non-coding junk genes near genes, and participate in gene repression and activation by interacting with them.
Most genes are turned on and off by nearby junk genes, which act like molecular switches for genes, regulating their activity. Moreover, it is the junk genes that cause the differences between individuals.
3. Acquired factors - evolutionary process
Genes determine a person’s appearance, but genes are also accumulated in the survival and evolution of human beings. Therefore, human evolution and life history also affect a person’s appearance. The mouth and face of monkeys and chimpanzees are convex and concave, while the mouth of a human is not convex but is basically in the same dimension or plane as the face.
So, what is the reason that makes people’s mouth retract so that they are in the same plane as nose and eyes?
The answer is that human eating and chewing laid the foundation for what we look like today.
4. Gut flora can also contribute to "YourMatches"
The human gastrointestinal tract is home to a wide variety of microorganisms, which are called gut microbiota. The intestinal flora is combined in a certain proportion, and the bacteria restrict each other and depend on each other, forming an ecological balance in terms of quality and quantity.
The gut microbiota, through various hormones, responds to the nutrients consumed by the host and also to the state of the host. They also produce compounds used to signal systems in the body, including neurotransmitters (such as gamma-aminobutyric acid), amino acids such as tyrosine and tryptophan, which can be converted into molecules that control mood , dopamine and serotonin) and many others.
Due to living together for a long time, the originally different gut bacteria micro-ecological environment between husband and wife has become more and more similar, and the intestinal flora is also gradually becoming similar. , resulting in more and more similar personalities and behavioral habits between couples, and some couples even have what ordinary people call “YourMatches”.
The above facts fully demonstrate:
1. The existence of “YourMatches” is scientifically based, not a folk joke.
2. The determinant of appearance is the genetic genes of the parents. When many couples choose their spouses, they may choose people who have some similarities with themselves due to their appearance orientation, so that the “husband and wife appearance” has a genetic basis.
3. Since the evolution process is a long accumulation process, the appearance will not change significantly in just a few decades, and it can almost be ignored in the formation of the “husband and wife”.
5.The intestinal flora can be formed in a short period of time, and will soon have an impact on the host. So “YourMatches” is largely driven by gut flora.