The Netflix drama centres around a geneticist who invents a new matchmaking service. It uses DNA to help people find their romantic and sexual match: their “one”.
“A single strand of hair is all it takes to be matched with the one person you are genetically guaranteed to fall in love with”, says Dr Rebecca Webb (Hannah Ware). “The moment you meet your match, your one true love, nothing will ever be the same again.”
The One asks what would happen if we could use a DNA database to match “soulmates”. More importantly, it assumes if such technology existed it would be a wholly commercial enterprise - imagining a not-to-distant future where tech (and tech giants) mediate dating, sex and relationships.
So, is this future just around the corner?
The popularity of home DNA testing
Home DNA testing is now a massive business. It is estimated that by 2022 it will be worth over globally.
DNA testing companies have fuelled a with biology, in which genetic dispositions are conflated with identity. DNA is regarded by some as the who we fundamentally are as people.
DNA kits have been sold to explore , to tailor , and to look at .
Indeed, companies such as Canada’s and already claim to help people find love and sexual compatibility through DNA tests.
People send in saliva swaps, and their DNA is tested to human leukocyte antigens, also known as the . These are important regulators of the immune system, which also impact our body odour. Genotyping identifies which variants of these genes each of us carry – which determine who we are attracted to.
There is as to whether or not DNA matching can support a more fulfilling love life. These current tests on major histocompatability complex are based on limited experiments with mixed results.
Indeed for most things, home DNA testing isn’t scientifically advanced enough to give us true insights. It also comes with such as fears over , in relation to who owns DNA data, and .
Nature versus nurture
The One reflects society’s current interest in understanding our DNA as essential to our social and cultural practices. This has significant implications for diversity and acceptance. The TV series relies on the idea that romantic and sexual destiny is .
Characters in The One feel intense attraction to their match. While it pokes fun at this idea — one character continues extramarital affairs despite being married to their match, another has multiple matches — the romantic ideal of The One is still committed to the possibility of “soulmates”.
This imagined possibility helps to entrench the notion that monogamy is the most “natural” human relationship and human sexuality is . But human , influenced by our culture and society.
Similar to the controversial search for “”, the world envisaged by The One takes .
Social norms restrict and shape how we engage with sex and relationships: may mean women are reluctant to seek out pleasure and connections; may mean reproduction of gender inequalities and . Alternate relationship styles, such as , or the choice to remain partner-free, are positioned as “unnatural” or less valid.
We still live in an age where are contested, and non-monogamous relationship styles or remain .
It is dangerous to assume DNA matching holds the key to romantic and sexual success — our genes alone cannot account for these diverse life experiences.
Anxieties of dating may not be solved through DNA
However apps have been blamed by some for superficial attitudes to sex and dating, such as fostering ; the phenomena of and ; and the paralysis of .
New technologies, like apps, can romance. The One largely envisages DNA matching would reaffirm old moral standards and expectations for the ideal relationship: monogamous, lifelong, intense and perfect.
Humans tend to presume DNA and genetic testing can provide us with . But relying on DNA ignores the role have in shaping our lives. Who we choose to have a relationship with may be influenced by our life goals and experiences, personal desires, morals and values, cultures and heritages.
The idea you can meet a DNA-certified companion to avoid heartbreak is seductive and comforting - but the truth is life and relationships are just too messy.
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