Sight and smell differ on what makes the best mate

New research published in New Scientist magazine suggests that human’s senses of smell and sight give contradictory signals about attractiveness.

It’s possibly to do with ‘Major Histocompatibility Complex’ (MHC), the huge molecule on cells, unique to each individual, which helps our immune systems to distinguish native from alien cells.

The theory is that in-breeding is avoided by humans selecting a mate with a different MHC to their own. How this is done is still something of a mystery, though sense of smell is likely to play its part.

However, a study in which women rated the attractiveness of male faces contradicted this, with higher scores going to men with similar MHC to their own.

The visual stimuli could be in place to allow people to select a mate not too distantly related.

However, a lot is still unclear about whether these chemical triggers play a part in mate selection, and in what ways.

Read the full article: What the eyes see, the nose denies