Dominic Senn, CEO Of BasisNote.com Interview

OPW INTERVIEW -- Mar 7 -- Basisnote is into DNA matchmaking and they have an interesting test. It doesn’t require the user to mail back a mouth swab or DNA sample and the test will be under $100. One to watch. I talked with the CEO, Dominic Senn. - Mark Brooks

Tell us more about Basisnote.com
It is a story of 3 friends that worked as researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and decided to start their own business. The basic idea behind building our own business was to bring olfactory to Internet dating.

How exactly do you match people?
We match people based on their individual scent profiles. This individual scent profile has a genetic basis with a link to your individual immune system. There is an attraction when the immune systems of two people are compatible. The way we realize whether or not the potential partner is compatible with others is through the smell, through the individual scent profile of this person. It is clear that that a lot has to match for a working relationship, but without a matching chemistry in the sense that “you like my scent and I like yours”, intimacy, the foundation of a working relationship is unlikely to evolve. Hence, basisnote helps people to find someone with a better matching chemistry faster and more reliably.

Are we talking pheromones?
No, its totally different from pheromones because those are the same for all people. The scent profiles are individual. Everyone is unique. It’s also chemically speaking a different type of substance that we emit.

How does that work from the end user perspective?
Our users order the test kit through a dating site. We ship the test kit to them within 24 hours. The test is simple and secure. You put it in your mouth for a few seconds and 5 minutes later you get the result, your individual chemistry or scent profile. Then you read this profile from the test kit and add it to your already existing personal profile at the dating site. We provide all the IT interfaces to get the matching with other people at these dating sites that have also already done the test. So the implementation of the whole system into existing sites is very simple.

What exactly are you matching?
We have a scale from 1 to 100 for how well you match. We also create a virtualization of the matching which gives you a visual representation which is kind of a bar code that represent your scent profile. If you put two scent profile on top of each other, you see how well they match.

Are we talking about the likelihood of having healthy offspring or are we talking about the actual compatibility and the chances of two people getting on?
All of it. The basic driver behind this mechanism is healthy offspring. That is the reason why we feel attracted to those people that have a good match in terms of this scent profile. There are a number of reviews that clearly show that if the compatibility is high in terms of this chemistry matching, it increases physical attraction first but also the stability of relationships.
The mechanism goes this way; your DNA determines your scent. The scent is then unconsciously recognized by your partner. We can’t read the DNA of our potential partner that is sitting on the other side of the table. But we can smell their typical smell and this smell gives us a positive or negative sensation and we experience attraction or not based on this smell.

I came across GenePartner.com and ScientificMatch.com. Are you looking at a different part of the DNA via the scent?
No it’s exactly the same part as they do and we measure the same thing. What is different is the way the analysis is done. They do the analysis in a laboratory where people have to send in their whole DNA, which is complicated, expensive and brings along data privacy issues, which, depending on the country, can severe. To replace this laboratory test, we have developed together with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH an instant test that is as simple to use as a pregnancy test. This test analyses only the part of the DNA that is actually relevant and it is an over-the-counter product, so it does not cause the data privacy problems that go along with a DNA laboratory test.

What does it cost for the end user?
We are now negotiating with the company that does the production of the test and it will certainly be below $100.

Can you see it being used on a couple as they’ve entered a relationship and have been on a few dates and they want to do this as a fun thing?
At the end of the day the best measurement instrument is your own nose. So if you already know someone and you’re together with this person, we would say trust your nose and don’t go for some kind of scientific genetic compatibility testing.

Comments

[Fernando Ardenghi]

"There is an attraction when the immune systems of two people are compatible."

Other researchers believe that what is important in attracting people to one another may not be important in making couples happy, i.e. attraction science and long term romantic relationships are different things.

"Hence, BasisNote helps people to find someone with a better matching chemistry faster and more reliably."

- How exactly BasisNote can prove its method matches persons who will have more stable and satisfying relationships than couples matched by chance, astrological destiny, personal preferences, searching on one's own, or other technique as the control group; with low 'divorce rates' (e.g. after 2, 5, 10 years of 'marriage'). ?
- Did BasisNote publish any peer_reviewed Scientifc Paper ?

- Is BasisNote based on the T_shirt Experiment ?
DNA matching methods, based on the T_shirt Experiment could be good only for short term mating (initial attraction, infatuation, fantasy) and not for a serious long term relationship with commitment.

- Which is the ENSEMBLE (the whole set of different valid possibilities) of its method ?

- If compatibility - based solely on DNA matching - means a high degree of dissimilarity between individual scent profiles, how exactly it is calculated ?
specifying main matching equation/ formula (without revealing proprietary information).
Eg.
"a proprietary Dyadic Adjustment Scale"
"a proprietary multivariate linear regression equation"
"a proprietary multivariate logistic regression equation"
"an adapted quantum mechanics math equation"

"We have a scale from 1 to 100 for how well you match"
With that kind of results, most probably as eHarmony, PerfectMatch, True, Chemistry, PlentyOfFish, Parship, Meetic Affinity and others, BasisNote could reach "as low as" 3 / 4 persons high compatible per 1,000 persons, so in a 10,000,000 persons database, there are as many as 30,000 / 40,000 persons to contact/date, that means a whole precision less than anyone could achieve by searching on one's own!!!!

" .... we have developed together with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH an instant test .... "
- Is the method only valid for white persons of European ethnicity or it can be used by person from Chinese / Japanese ethnicity, Indian ethnicity, "white persons of Hispanic" ethnicity ?
- Is the method valid for "interracial couples" ?

"There are a number of reviews that clearly show that if the compatibility is high in terms of this chemistry matching, it increases physical attraction first but also the stability of relationships."
- Which are those reviews ?

"At the end of the day the best measurement instrument is your own nose. So if you already know someone and you're together with this person, we would say trust your nose and don't go for some kind of scientific genetic compatibility testing."

the best measurement instrument is your own nose???
If it is were really true, divorce rates in different countries would not had reached the high levels they have!

Regards,

Fernando Ardenghi.
Buenos Aires.
Argentina.
[email protected]

[Haemmerli]

Sir,

Basisnote closely works together with its scientific network at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (ETH), the University of Lausanne and other research institutions with experts studying the mechanistic bases of olfactory mate choice and the psychology of compatibility in humans with publications in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature and Science (see for example http://www.eco.ethz.ch/people/assistants/wegnerm With these experts we have ongoing research collaborations supported by CTI, the innovation promotion agency of the Swiss government http://www.bbt.admin.ch/kti/index.html?lang=en
It is a great misunderstanding to claim, that olfactory mate choice is the single most important factor determining the quality of a relationship. Psychology, the social and cultural context of potential partners and vision play important roles. However, sustainable intimacy is unlikely to develop if two people do not like the smell of each other. And a sound intimacy is the corner stone of most romantic relationships. This is why we are convinced that our products can complement existing dating offers in a great way, especially in online dating, where the nose is lost.

Sincerely,

Dr. August Haemmerli

CTO basisnote
[email protected]
Bern, Switzerland

[Mark Brooks]

I've taken the 23andme.com test, which was $1k, and the GenePartner test. Both tests required me to send in a DNA sample from spitting into a jar, and swabbing my mouth.

I just don't think daters will do this too readily. The conversion factor of them paying for the test and then receiving the test and sending it in would be probably be too low to be viable. This is why mail in coupons work. People just don't get around to mailing them in.

However, I think Basisnote is viable because the test provides more of an instant gratification. No test swabs to mail in.

Mark Brooks
OnlinePersonalsWatch.com Editor
CourtlandBrooks.com Consultant

[Thomas Gregory]

I have been watching Basisnote for some time. Basisnote has changed their strategy 3 times: first they had tubes to smell from, then they had a DNA test from swabs and now they claim to have an other test.

Is this test ready to use? I don't think so. Will it ever be ready? And more importantly: is it going to work? I doubt it.

[August Haemmerli]

There has been no change in our strategy to provide the best available test for online dating sites in terms of quality and user-friendliness.

For research purposes and for speed dating events we do use other tests beside the instant test mentioned in the interview above. However, for online dating sites we believe that other tests such as the laboratory test do not provide the convenience and user-friendliness required by end consumers.

August Haemmerli

[derya]

There has been no change in our strategy to provide the best available test for online dating sites in terms of quality and user-friendliness.

For research chat purposes and for speed dating events we do use other tests beside the instant test mentioned in the interview above. However, for online dating sites we believe that other tests such as the laboratory test do not provide the convenience and user-friendliness required by end consumers.

August Haemmerli

[DNA matchmaking]

The success or failure of the service can't be measured, however, with only a handful of customers so far. Although Holzle doesn't guarantee finding one's true love, he insists that people paired by Scientific Match will at least smell appealing to each other.