Sayak Biswas, Amity University, Kolkata
Now, how often do we see identical twins moving around in Infront of us? Plenty right! We think that identical twins will also possess the same characteristics and also the same type of genes. This is not always the case. Identical twins have been known to possess’ non-identical genes and this relates to mutations during embryonic development.
These genetic differences can begin during the early weeks of embryonic development due to mutations. Mutations are known as alternations in the DNA structures and this can significantly shape up the differences in the twins. Research has found that on average, 5.2 mutations have shown up in identical twins but some pairs can have it till 100. One shocking revelation about the same came when it was found that in some twins, all the cells showed mutation while in the other, no or very few cells showed it. This proved to be quite amusing to scientists. But these findings have overshadowed the previous beliefs which included environmental factors to be the cause of the differences in the identical twins.
Also read:Disease resistance in rice accomplished using bacterial seed endophyte!
Reference:Not So Identical: Genetic Difference in Twins Can Begin Very Early On In The Embryo- Technology News, Firstpost. https://www.firstpost.com/tech/science/not-so-identical-genetic-difference-in-twins-can-begin-very-early-on-in-the-embryo-9183181.html
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