Though his research is geared to help the social skills of autistic and schizophrenic patients, the isolated chemicals have the same effect on all humans. He believes oxytocin, a chemical in the same family as cocaine and nicotine, to be the root of the biochemical reaction that compels humans to be monogamous, unlike 95% of all mammals. Even in this early stage, oxytocin enhances feelings of trust and empathy in test subjects, and an oxytocin blocker injected into the normally monogamous prairie vole causes the little buggers to have wild, uncommitted rodent sex.
Dr. Larry Young guesses that love potions could be developed from these advances fairly easily. Until then, I guess I'll just have to keep doing it the old-fashioned way: sending dirty limericks to Scarlett Johansson under assumed names. [NY Times]