Today most interest in twins serves to determine whether traits come from ones environment or from genetics. However, throughout time, twins have been a constant source of entertainment and amazement for society. Twins differ very little, and according to an e-mail interview with Dr. Nancy Segal, the American attraction to them is due to our high value and appreciation of independency and personal differences. Segal believes the similarity of twins contrasts greatly with Americans values and this contrast sparks interest, almost to the nature of a circus sideshow. Because most singletons find the eerie alikeness of twins mystifying, myths and urban legends about twin behavior are not uncommon. For instance, the belief twins share more …show more content…
Scientists cite these and other interesting reasons as impetus for studying twins. However, the majority of twin studies serve to determine whether genetics or environment decide human traits.
Studies of twins place them in two differing groups. Identical twins or monozygotic twins, according to Clegg and Woollett, "are formed by the accidental splitting of a single fertilized egg, so that the babies develop from one egg and one sperm." They also define fraternal or dizygotic twins as non-identical twins that "develop from the fertilization of two eggs by two sperm" (16). It is common knowledge ones genes are inherited, half from ones mother, and half from ones father. Since monozygotic, or MZ, twins are a split of the same egg and sperm, they contain identical genes. However, the genes of dizygotic, or DZ, twins are only as similar as typical brothers and sisters. Scientists are interested in fraternal twins reared together because, being the same age and in the same home, they share practically identical environments. They are also interested in studying identical twins that have been reared apart from one another, because they share identical genetics but have differing backgrounds. These groups of twins provide researchers with automatic control groups.
By studying these two groups, scientists can see if DZ twins with the same environment are
Conjoined twins are a rare form of identical twinning; one that carries many challenges with it, to affected twins and their families. From the time of birth conjoined twins must struggle to survive against physical and psychological difficulties. With the premium that current culture places on independence and individuality, conjoined twins fight to find their place in society, meanwhile demonstrating coexistence at the extreme. Parents and physicians are usually ultimately the responsible parties for deciding if this coexistence will continue. As will be discussed, the decision whether or not to separate conjoined twins remains tangled up in a web of argumentation, a debate that even the
When people see a pair of twins they are many questions that they ask at first, and they start to check how good the similarities are between each other. Twins are always thought of something special and magical, now don’t get me wrong it is special because of the bond and relationship that they create between each other. Even though just like any other thing it has its pros and cons.
Scientists and researchers did not pay particular attention to twins and zygosity before the 20th century. One of the earliest and the simplest of assessments was based on the question, “Were you as children as alike as two peas in a pod?” When both twins answered affirmatively, they were defined
Nature is everything that happens to a child before birth, including things such as size. Most natural effects are from birth parents, like eye color, hair color, or some habits. In my case, my eyes are hazel, a mix of green and brown or change from the pupil, brown to green. Nature definitely favors twins such as Anais and Sam. They were twin girls born to the same mother but were separated at birth. Anais was in France when Sam was in America. Yet despite not seeing each other for nearly twenty-two years, they had the same laugh and even close to the same jobs. That’s crazy!
For every 1,000 births, 33.9 of them will be twins. Twins are becoming more common in society, but many people still don’t know a lot about them. People are also mystified by twins constantly questioning whether they have telepathic tendencies. As a fraternal twin, I have first hand knowledge and can tell you that we are not telepathic. Now, you may not understand what I mean by fraternal twin, but don’t you worry because I will explain this later in the blog. Overall, twins are unique because they are both born during the same birth.
Most people think of twins as being exactly alike in every aspect. Sure, some twins have a lot in common, but not Krista and Rachel. Krista and Rachel are my best friends. They are monozygotic twins. Monozygotic twins are formed when one fertilized zygote (egg) splits into two, creating two embryos (Gurevich). Since they share the same DNA, they should have a lot in common; however, they are polar opposites with only a few similarities. Their appearances are different, their personalities are different, and their interests are different. They may be “identical” twins but, sometimes it is hard to remember that they are even related.
Back in my high school psychology class I remember learning about nature vs. nurture theories. Infants and twins were the main attractions for scientists or those who wanted to experiment theories and come up with answers to prove their arguments. I learned that the twins had strong relationship compared to normal silblings, (In this case, identical twins with same sex were the most similar). Meaning, even though they were adopted and raised by different parents and environment, they were more likely to have similar personalities. But if we talk about them being raised in different countries speaking different language would be difficult to compare however, if they were raised in the same country same language, I believe they might have some
A limitation of twin studies is that they are not representative of other children. Twins are rare, and there may be some other special or unusual features of MZ twins besides their genetic similarities
Identical twins has the same genetic inheritance however they may act or display different because of their environment rather than genetic or brain factors. Genetic inheritance and environment is a continuous process, that is changing as people makes different choices and select new environment. (Jones, 2011).
In psychology, studies concerning identical twins have been performed, and the results have brought about proof that genetics are the larger factor in determining personality. The results of these tests showed that twins were twice as likely to have the same personality. This
Although people think identical twins have the same personality they really don't. Every identical twins personality is different from one another a good example is Bonne and Brenda Bonne one of the twins had a sex change and became a man and the other did not. This proves that nurture plays a part in someone's personality. Another example is Tim and James both are identical twins and both had bad kidney problems when they were born, but only James recovered Tim had to have a kidney transplant later in
All human beings are unique from one and another, each complex organism has certain traits that can be seen some harder than others. Some traits that are easier to see such as hair and eye color, the other ones that are harder to see are vocal talents, Asthma, and disease risk. Traits can be created through the environment or through genes. The environment can change traits such as the things we enjoy or the sounds that we create, like language, the language we speak is considered environment change. Though eye color or body shape is inherited through our parents giving us some identical genes. Although with twins they are a bit more genetically close, yet they are not 100% DNA matches, all human beings will have a small amount of traits that are different, but those who are fraternal twins do share closer DNA than those who are born years a part.
When it comes to identical twins there has been many studies and research. Identical twins have almost exact copies of each other’s genes, but they still turn out to be different from each other. Because of their genes they have a lot in common and studies have shown things like twins separated at birth will pose the same in front of the camera and if one is religious the other one will often also be religious (Cobb). The twins Jim Springer and Jim Lewis reunited after 39 years after their separation at birth, they found out that both had constant headaches, bit their fingernails, smoked the same cigarettes, drove the same car, lived in Ohio, named their dog the same name, had been married twice with women named the same names and even
This research began when two people fell in love and started a family. They learned their family would grow by four feet instead of two feet. The couple wanted to know more information regarding twins. What are the chances of having twins? They know there are varying types of twins, such as fraternal, identical, and conjoined twins. The chances of conceiving twins are growing in numbers. The BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board stated, “As of 2010, twins accounted for about 1 in 30 births in the United States or 3.3 percent.” The odds of having multiples are determined by many elements such as a single egg splits in two or using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to stimulate release of eggs from the ovary. Identical twins are hereditary and
In a more biology manner, they say that humans are a product of genes and environment or nature but what can we say about identical twins.