Falling in love may boost genes in women’s immune systems related to fighting infection, according to new research. “What we found was that women who fell in love had increased activity of genes involved in antiviral defenses, compared to when they began the study,” says Damian Murray, an assistant professor in the School of Science and Engineering at Tulane University.
“No similar change was observed in women who did not fall in love. This could reflect a kind of a proactive response to anticipating future intimate contact; given that most viruses are spread via close physical contact. However, this increased activity of antiviral genes is also consistent with the biological preparation of the body for pregnancy. From this women-only sample, both of these interpretations remain possible,” he explains.
To be eligible to participate in the study, researchers only considered healthy women who were not taking drugs and were in a new romantic relationship. The researchers defined a new relationship as seeing someone less than a month, but the participants had to report that they were not yet in love with their partners.
