Posted on 03/15/2008 12:24:17 AM PDT by neverdem
“A few years ago in Dunwich a half-witted girl bore illegitimate twins. One of them was almost human.
-—H. P. Lovecraft
Which brings up the thought that, if you think you see identical twins at a bar, you've probably had too much...
Epigenetics is one thing. Copy number variation is quite another. It includes a range in the number of copies of a gene, from deletion, i.e. the absense of the gene altogether, to multiple copies of the same gene to different versions of a gene that makes a different, but functionally similar, protein, e.g. pancreatic amylase and salivary amylase. Click on the keywords copynumbervariation, copynumbervariations and cnv. It's not just simple Mendelian genetics and epigenetics.
No, check the link in comment# 1 and the keywords copynumbervariation, copynumbervariations and cnv. In the case of twins, copy-number variation means that the twins can have zero to multiple copies of the same gene.
It's unrelated to the main theme underlying this thread, copy number variations, but since epigenetics was mentioned so often, I managed to come across this review article from a conference in 2005. It's fascinating, even if it may be already out of date.
Not surprised: twins have different fingerprints.
....and fingerprints are not the result of genes?
The article says, "identical, they are not". My recollection is that fingerprints aren't programmed like genes. They "just grow".
Monkeys have fingerprints, too, BTW. (And suspect they are not alike in monkey-twins as well—though I haven't checked!)
:)
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