Identical Twins | Twins gender
SkiptomaincontentIdenticalTwins=Identicaltwinsarealsoknownasmonozygotictwins.Theyresultfromthefertilizationofasingleeggthatsplitsintwo.Identicaltwinssharealloftheirgenesandarealwaysofthesamesex.Incontrast,fraternal,ordizygotic,twinsresultfromthefertilizationoftwoseparateeggsduringthesamepregnancy.Theysharehalfoftheirgenes,justlikeanyothersiblings.Fraternaltwinscanbeofthesameordifferentsexes.IllustrationNarrationIdenticaltwinsarealsocalledmonozygotictwins.Theyresultfromthefertilizationofasingleeggwithasinglesperm.Andasthosecellsdivideandmultiply,atsomepointveryearlyinembryonicgrowththeysplitintotwoindividuals.Sothatyoucanimaginethatthegeneticmaterialinthesetwoidenticaltwinsisidenticaltoeachother,hencethename.Thecontrasttothiswouldbefraternaltwins,whicharetwinsbornatthesametime.However,theyareactuallytheresultoffertilizationoftwodifferenteggs,andthuscanbedifferentgendersandlookdifferent,andhavedifferentcharacteristics.What'sbecomingincreasinglycleariseventhoughwecallidenticaltwinsidentical,andwethinkoftheirgeneticmaterialasbeingidentical,weneedtoberemindedthatthereareenvironmentalinfluencesthatmaychange,actually,thecharacteristicsofidenticaltwins,remindingus,aswealreadyknow,thateventhoughidenticaltwinscomefromthesamegeneticmaterial,incharacteristicstheymayactuallyhavedifferencesaswell.DonnaKrasnewich,M.D.,Ph.D.RelatedTermsFraternalTwinsGeneGermLineBrowseTermsABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZFeaturedContentIntroductiontoGenomicsPolygenicRiskScores