愛出軌或是基因惹的禍

It could be the perfect excuse for cheating spouses who are caught out: infidelity may be inherited. Both men and women may be more likely to have affairs as a result of the genes passed down by their parents, according to research.

出軌被發現？也許你將有一個完美藉口：都是基因惹的禍。據英國《每日郵報》報道，最新研究顯示，攜帶有遺傳性“出軌基因”的人更容易對伴侶不忠。

Scientists have even identified a single gene which has variations that make women more likely to commit adultery.

科學家甚至辨認出一種會讓女性更容易出軌的存在變異形態的單基因。

The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Queensland and other institutions, examined the roles played by genes in human affairs.

這項研究由澳大利亞昆士蘭大學及其他機構聯合開展，，研究人員調查了基因在兩性關係中的作用。

Dr Brendan Zietsch, research fellow at the university’s school of psychology, who led the study, said: “Our research clearly shows that people’s genetic make-up influences how likely they are to have sex with someone outside their main partnership.

昆士蘭大學心理學學院的研究員布倫丹·齊奇（Brendan Zietsch）博士是該研究的負責人，他表示：“我們的研究很清楚地表明人們基因的組成會影響他們發生不正當性關係的可能性。”

“Isolating specific genes is more difficult because thousands of genes influence any behaviour and the effect of any individual gene is tiny. But we did find tentative evidence for a specific gene influencing infidelity in women. More research will be needed to confirm this finding.

“雖然找到特定的基因更難，因爲任何行爲都會受到成千上萬個基因的共同影響，很難看到每個基因的單獨作用，但我們初步發現了一個會影響女性出軌行爲的基因。我們還需要做更多的研究來驗證這一發現。”

Experts have never fully understood, in scientific terms, why men and women have affairs. For men, having a number of partners can lead to more offspring, which would traditionally have been seen as advantageous for the continuation of blood lines.

目前還沒有專家能用科學方法來充分解釋爲何兩性會出現外遇行爲。傳統觀點認爲，男性擁有一定數量的性伴侶從而生下更多後代是爲了有利於延續血脈。

The University of Queensland researchers examined data on more than 7,300 twins aged 18 to 49, all of whom were in long-term relationships.

昆士蘭大學的研究員對七千三百多位18歲至49歲且有穩定兩性關係的雙胞胎進行研究。

Some 9.8 per cent of the men and 6.4 per cent of women had had two or more sexual partners in the previous 12 months.

在過去一年裏，調查對象中有大約9.8%的男性和6.4%的女性擁有兩名或以上的性伴侶。

The results showed that 63 per cent of unfaithful behaviour in men was down to inherited genes, and 40 per cent in women, rates which surprised the scientists, who then looked for what genes could be involved.

結果顯示，男性出軌行爲中有63%是“出軌基因”惹的禍，而在女性出軌行爲中這一比例也高達40%。這一結果令衆位研究者大跌眼鏡。他們繼續研究以尋找這些遺傳基因。

They found women with certain variations in a gene called AVPRIA were more likely to be unfaithful. The gene is involved in production of the hormone arginine vasopressin which is known to be involved in the regulation of social behaviour and has been linked to differences in philandering behaviour in voles.

他們發現攜帶有AVPRIA基因變異的女性更有可能產生出軌行爲，這個基因與精氨酸加壓激素（AVP）的產生有關，精氨酸加壓激素因應用到社會行爲管理和田鼠吸引異性行爲差異實驗而被人們所熟知。