主题：“爱情忠诚”由基因决定吗？

Is fidelity in our genes?

Did you ever wonder why some guys are less cut out for commitment, while others stick around?
Well, in a type of rodent called a vole, one thing that controls mate bonding is a brain chemical called vasopressin. A gene that influences vasopressin determines how doggedly males will latch on to a lucky female. Scientists can even make promiscuous voles turn monogamous—just by manipulating the gene.
This week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences researchers report a link between variation in the human gene and male fidelity.
Nearly two thousand Swedes filled out a standardized test measuring the strength of their romantic partnership.
Men with a particular variant of the gene scored lower than others on the bonding scale, and fewer of them were married. What's more, if a guy had two copies of that variant he was twice as likely to report marital problems.
Ladies, don't fret just yet. It’s just a correlation that they’ve found. Stronger evidence of a causal relationship between DNA and vasopressin in humans is needed.
But in the meantime, hopeful single guys out there may want to hold off on posting their genetic code on Facebook.
“爱情忠诚”由基因决定吗？
你是否曾经想过为什么有些男人在婚姻中易于出轨，而有些男人则忠贞不渝？
在一种叫做田鼠的啮齿动物体内，有一种称为血管加压素的大脑化学物质，这种物质控制着田鼠“配偶”之间的“忠诚”。一种影响血管加压素的基因决定雄性田鼠对雌性配偶的忠诚程度。科学家甚至仅仅靠调控基因就能让“花心”的田鼠恪守“一夫一妻制”。
发表在本周《美国国家科学院院刊》（Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ）的一项研究中，研究者们报道了人类基因的差异和男性忠诚之间的联系。
近2000名瑞典人参加了一项旨在衡量他们爱情关系牢固程度的标准测试。
当男人带有一种特定不同基因时，这些男人的爱情牢固程度比其他人低，而且他们中结婚的人更少。另外，如果一个男人带有两份这种基因拷贝的话，他在婚姻中出问题的可能性是别人的2倍。
女士们，现在还没有必要为此烦恼。这只不过是研究者们发现的一种相关性罢了。人体中DNA和血管加压素之间是否存在因果关系的更有说服力的证据目前还有待发现。
不过与此同时，那些想寻找爱情伴侣的单身汉们可能暂时不会在Facebook上张贴他们的基因图谱了。
Vocabulary:
Fidelity: 忠贞
Cut out for sth: 天生适合做…事
Commitment: 承诺；责任
Rodent: 啮齿类动物
Vole: 田鼠
Vasopressin: 血管加压素
Doggedly: 固执地；顽强地
Promiscuous: 滥交的
Monogamous: 一夫一妻的
Manipulate: 操控
Marital: 婚姻的
Variation: 变化；差异
Fret: 烦恼
Causal: 因果关系的
双语新闻：男人风流？都是基因在作怪
Genes decide marital quality

　Swedish researchers said Tuesday what women have suspected all along: that marital woes can often be attributed to men's genetic make-up, according to a study linking a common male gene to relationship problems.

　The gene variant, which is present in four of 10 Swedish men, can explain why some men are more prone to stormy relationships and bond less to their wives or girlfriends, a team of researchers at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute said.

　"There are, of course, many reasons why a person might have relationship problems, but this is the first time that a specific gene variant has been associated with how men bond to their partners," Hasse Walum, one of the researchers, said in a statement.

　The team found that men who carry one or two copies of a variant of the gene often behave differently in relationships than men who lack the gene variant, called allele 334.

　Men who had two copies of allele 334 were twice as likely to have had a marital or relationship crisis in the past year than those who lacked the gene variant, the statement said.

　Their wives or girlfriends also noticed the difference.

　"Women married to men who carry one or two copies of allele 334 were, on average, less satisfied with their relationship than women married to men who didn't carry this allele," Walum said.

　The study surveyed 550 twins and their partners or spouses in Sweden.

　Martin Ingvar, a professor of neurophysiology at Karolinska Institute, said the results were "very exciting."

　"These are original findings which shed light on the fact that all of our behaviours are influenced by both nature and nurture. Even complex, cultural social phenomens such as marriage are influenced by a person's genetic make-up," Ingvar said.

　The same gene has previously been linked to monogamous behaviour in male voles, a mouselike rodent.

　The results of the study were published Tuesday in the US scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
婚姻不幸福？瑞典研究人员于本周二称，这往往是男性的基因组成在“作怪”。一项有关男性携带的某种基因与婚姻问题的研究证实了女性一直以来的怀疑。

　　斯德哥尔摩卡罗林斯卡学院的一组研究人员称，这种基因变体可以解释为什么有些男性与伴侣的关系不稳定、容易出轨。在10名瑞典男性中，有四人携带此种基因变体。

　　研究小组成员之一哈瑟•瓦卢姆在一份声明中说：“当然，婚姻出现问题可能有很多原因，但这是首次将某种特定的基因变体与男性对伴侣的忠贞度联系在一起。”

　　研究小组发现，携带一个或两个这种名为“334型等位基因变种”的男性与没有这种基因变种的男性相比，对待婚姻或感情的态度有所不同。

　　声明称，携带两个这种基因变种的男性在过去一年中出现婚姻或感情危机的几率为不携带这种基因变种男性的两倍。

　　他们的妻子或女友们也体会到了这种差别。

　　瓦卢姆说：“与不携带‘334型等位基因变种’男性的妻子相比，携带一个或两个此种基因变体男性的妻子对婚姻的满意度平均较低。”

　　该研究对瑞典550对双胞胎及他们的伴侣或配偶进行了调查。

　　卡罗林斯卡学院的神经生理学教授马丁•英格瓦说，研究结果十分“令人激动”。

　　他说：“这些最新发现让我们认识到，人的所有行为都受到先天和后天两大因素的双重影响。即便是婚姻这种复杂的文化社会现象也受到人基因组成的影响。”

　　此前有研究发现，334型等位基因与雄性田鼠对配偶的忠贞度有关。

　　该研究结果于本周二在美国美国国家科学院院报上发表。
参考文献http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-7-475545-1.shtml