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Identical twins not so identical after all: study

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Kelly Macnamara, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tvpatrol/01/07/20200508-qmmc-health-worker-moms-gcs-1117-sel.jpg"/><figcaption>Midwife Florinda Jacinto and Pediatrician Dra. Camille Gaspar thoroughly dry the twin babies while doing a quick check for breathing at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center Endoscopy Unit Operating Room, which is temporarily being used as the PUI-COVID Operating Room on May 8, 2020. <em>Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>PARIS — Genetic differences between identical twins can begin very early in embryonic development, according to a study Thursday that researchers said has implications for how these siblings help scientists tease out the effects of nature versus nurture.</p><p>Identical — or monozygotic — twins come from a single fertilized egg that splits in two.</p><p>They are important research subjects because they are thought to have minimal genetic differences.</p><p>This means that when physical or behavioral differences emerge, environmental factors are presumed to be the likely cause.</p><div><strong>RELATED STORIES:</strong></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/11/28/20/mara-and-dona-argentine-twins-living-tribute-to-soccer-great">Mara and Dona: Argentine twins living tribute to soccer great</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/11/26/20/twin-sisters-from-silliman-university-both-pass-nov-2020-ple">Twin sisters from Silliman University both pass Nov 2020 PLE</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/05/05/20/success-ko-success-nya-pagtutulungan-susi-ng-kambal-sa-pagpasa-sa-2019-bar-exams">&#x27;Success ko, success n&#x27;ya&#x27;: Pagtutulungan susi ng kambal sa pagpasa sa 2019 Bar Exams</a></li></ul><p>But the new research, published in the journal Nature Genetics, suggests that the role of genetic factors in shaping these differences has been underestimated.</p><p>&quot;The classic model has been to use identical twins to help you to separate the influence of genetics versus environment in analysis of diseases,&quot; said Kari Stefansson, head of Iceland&#x27;s deCODE genetics, a subsidiary of US pharma firm Amgen.</p><p>&quot;So if you take identical twins raised apart and one of them developed autism, the classic interpretation has been that that is caused by the environment.&quot;</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gtM3szgAJ_8?enablejsapi=1"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>&quot;But that is an extraordinarily dangerous conclusion,&quot; he told AFP, adding that there is a possibility that the disease could be due to an early genetic mutation that happened in one of the twins but not the other.</p><p>Stefansson and his team sequenced the genomes of 387 pairs of identical twins and their parents, spouses and children in order to track genetic mutations.</p><p>They measured mutations that occur during embryonic growth and found that identical twins differ by an average of 5.2 early developmental mutations.</p><p>In 15 percent of twins, the number of diverging mutations is higher.</p><p>When a mutation happens in the first few weeks of embryonic development, it would be expected to be widespread both in an individual&#x27;s cells and in those of their offspring.</p><p>In one of the pairs of twins studied, for example, a mutation was present in all of cells in one sibling&#x27;s body -- meaning it likely happened very early in development -- but not at all in the other twin.</p><p>Stefansson said that out of the initial mass that would go on to form the individuals, &quot;one of the twins is made out of the descendants of the cell where the mutation took place and nothing else&quot;, while the other was not.</p><p>&quot;These mutations are interesting because they allow you to begin to explore the way in which twinning happens.&quot;</p><p>Given the genetic differences found, the very term identical may be misleading to describe the siblings.</p><p>&quot;I am more inclined to call them monozygotic twins today than identical,&quot; Stefansson said.</p><div><strong>klm/mh/pvh</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>"I am more inclined to call them monozygotic twins today than identical."</p>

Identical twins not so identical after all: study

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Identical twins not so identical after all: study

Kelly Macnamara,

Agence France-Presse

Published Jan 08, 2021 05:40 PM PHT

Read More:

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monozygotic

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