In honor of Gloria Steinem's appearance in The Times oped pages this week, I figured I'd stoke gender issues and call attention to a study by Swedish researchers that says some men are hard-wired to be unfaithful. Apparently, guys with one or two copies of a gene variant (allele 334) are more likely to have fidelity and commitment issues.

Not surprisingly the study, conducted by the Karolinska Institute, also found that women married to allele 334-bearing men aren't as happy as those married to men without it.

"There are, of course, many reasons why a person might have relationship problems, but this is the first time that a specific gene variation has been associated with how men bond to their partners," Hassem Walum, one of the researchers, said in Science Daily.

Women all over the planet are murmuring: "I knew it. It's not that I've gained weight, he's just a mutant!"