Fidelity in DNA? Researchers find monogamy gene in men

Wedded bliss for men may depend on the same gene that keeps little prairie

rodents faithful to their mates, according to researchers studying the so-called

monogamy gene.Investigators have long known the gene that controls the hormone vasopressin

is responsible for monogamy in prairie voles, small animals common in the

grasslands of North America. Now researchers from the Karolinska Institute in

Stockholm have uncovered it in men — and showed it may play a role in whether

they and their spouses are happily married.

The researchers ran genetic tests on 2,186 participants in the Twin and

Offspring Study in Sweden and had them fill out a survey about the quality of

their marriage. Men with a genetic variation scored significantly lower on a

scale of partner bonding. One in three reported a crisis in their marriage

within the past year, twice the number as those without the variation.

"This really shows that in humans, even complex social behavior like our

relationships have a biological root," said Larry Young, a professor of

psychiatry at Emory University in Atlanta, who has done similar gene research in

animals. While the findings need to be confirmed, "if it does hold up, it's a

really intriguing story," he said in a telephone interview.

The results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

held up when the researchers asked women about their relationships. Those whose

husbands had one or two copies of the gene variation scored significantly lower

on tests asking about their marriage quality than those without it.

The gene was previously linked to other aspects of human behavior, including