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posted by martyb on Tuesday January 08 2019, @12:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the if-your-parents-didn't-have-children,-then-you-probably-won't,-either dept.

Monogamy may have a telltale signature of gene activity

In the animal world, monogamy has some clear perks. Living in pairs can give animals some stability and certainty in the constant struggle to reproduce and protect their young—which may be why it has evolved independently in various species. Now, an analysis of gene activity within the brains of frogs, rodents, fish, and birds suggests there may be a pattern common to monogamous creatures. Despite very different brain structures and evolutionary histories, these animals all seem to have developed monogamy by turning on and off some of the same sets of genes.

"It is quite surprising," says Harvard University evolutionary biologist Hopi Hoekstra, who was not involved in the new work. "It suggests that there's a sort of genomic strategy to becoming monogamous that evolution has repeatedly tapped into."

Conserved transcriptomic profiles underpin monogamy across vertebrates (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1813775116) (DX)


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  • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:17PM

    by darkfeline (1030) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:17PM (#784234) Homepage

    > who may never experience a long lasting, meaningful relationship

    "Meaning" is a human construct, a self delusion. Some people find "meaning" in religion, art, or other pursuits. That you have to feel sorry for other people based on your own opinion of what should matter to other people, in my opinion, makes you more pitiful than the people you are pitying.

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