A new app wants you to swab your cheek to match with a genetically compatible date

A new online dating app is pitching DNA analysis as a cure for catfishing, endless left swiping, and the myriad other ailments of 21st-century courtship.

Pheramor, which launches this week in Houston with several thousand singles already signed up, operates like a cross between 23andMe and OkCupid. Users swab their cheeks, mail in their samples for sequencing, and then browse profiles of potential dates with whom they’re assigned a compatibility score between 0 and 100 percent.

The analysis is based on a comparison of a pair’s immune-modulating gene family known as HLA, or human leukocyte antigens (as well as a couple’s interests on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). A number of studies indicate that people prefer the odor of a mate who has HLA genetic variants that are dissimilar to their own.

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