There may be more to the Felix-and-Oscar truism than we know. In fact, researchers believe that one of the things we seek out in someone else’s smell is that it be unlike our own.
There is evidence that your odor type is linked to genes that determine your immunity. People of different odor types seem to have different immunological resistance – so that someone with Odortype A might be immune to three different strains of flu, while Odortype B would be immune to three other different ones.
Mating across odor types, then, is an evolutionary gambit to ensure that our babies have a wider band of immunity than we and our mates do on our own. (It may also be a way to make sure that we don’t accidentally breed with a family member).
![Marianne J. Legato](https://gendermed.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2017_GALA_0672_web-150x150.jpg)
Specialist in internal medicine and primary care.