Quicktakes – Pheromonally yours?

One afternoon, I was lying in bed going about my motherly duty of nursing when I saw something interesting on tv. It was actually a snippet of a documentary on NatGeo. Or you could say it was a quick summary, running less than 10 minutes, of a documentary that I have yet managed to watch in full.

The experiment involves taking 5-6 different (what look to me as Caucasian) women with dissimilar immune system and biological make-up, as sampling size. These women were each instructed to sleep and wear the same t-shirts for a few days in a row, without taking any bath. (Probably it was 3 days tops, I didn’t pay close attention on the days – it couldn’t be THAT long before the smell becomes really disgusting to bear).

They then had to deposit the said t-shirts to the experimenter who would put and sealed them in air-tight bags before placing them in the freezer.

A number of men volunteers would then be given the t-shirts (at room temperature, that is) and asked to rank them in no particular order with 1 being the least like and 6 being the most like.

Like their female counterparts, the male guinea pigs were also tested to decode their immune systems. From the scent being whiffed and sniffed by the men, it can safely be said that each man likes and feels attracted to the smell of the woman/women with a corresponding compatible immune system.

I found that conclusion quite interesting with its own set of ramifications:
1) Does it mean we are ‘innately’ and biologically attracted to persons of matching immune system? Does this mean beauty is skin deep, after all?
2) How about the external, on-the-surface factors? Personality, complexion, facial features, weight, height and what-have-you do not account for anything at all if we really plug into our primordial attraction to partners that are crucial for continuing our lineage and if you may, ‘good breeding.’
3) If the same argument follows, when a partner becomes incapacitated by a disease or accident, will the other partner stray and ‘prey’ on more healthy and biologically-compatible candidates? Or will the partner remains steadfast and faithful and wait and pray for a speedy recovery?
4) By the same token, does this explain why in some cases when one half of a couple dies, the other slowly withers and eventually passes away thereafter? When the one that (inherently) really matters is taken away from his/her beloved, the other loses the will to live during which his/her immune system takes a toll and inevitably declines. I notice this happens to couples that are so into one another and dedicate their lives to building a happy sustainable life together.

Of course this experiment has its limits and weaknesses. Especially when you take a small sampling size. I am just musing on how it will be like if we are only able to rely on our elemental urges to choose our significant others. Now that’s what I call ‘Natural Selection.’