Can DNA Tests Help Find True Love?

Dec. 13, 2007 — -- If you're looking for true love, one new online dating Web site says that the key may lay inside…your cheek, that is.

ScientificMatch.com, a dating service launched earlier this week, is pledging to take relationships to "a whole new era" by becoming the first site to offer its customers DNA testing in an attempt to find the perfect mate.

Customers, who must pay $1,995 to join, are asked to swab the inside of their cheeks with a provided cotton swab, send it to a laboratory for testing, and then sit back and wait for the scientists to determine their immune system's genetic makeup.

"This is going to revolutionize the entire dating industry," said Eric Holzle, the founder of ScientificMatch.com. "We're providing the most perfect dating service that you're going to get, the best of both worlds."

"Everyone advertises chemistry, we're the only one that offers it," Holzle told ABC News.

Once a member's immune system genetics are determined, said Holzle, they are then matched to other members who have the opposite gene makeup.

According to Holzle, scientific research says that two parents with different immune system genes have a much greater chance of producing healthier offspring.

"Unlike your eye color – which is usually determined by either your mother or your father – your immune system is defined equally by both parents," explained Holzle, who is not a trained medical professional, but actually a mechanical engineer.

"Therefore, if both parents have varying immune system genes, the resulting baby will have a wide array of immune system genes, which means a more robust immune system."

Besides the unusual DNA test, the site is similar in many ways to other popular online dating services: Members can post photographs of themselves and information in their member profiles that their matches will be able to browse.