RESUMEN
A review of an unusual twin type-twins born to women with two uteri (uterus didelphys)-is presented. This review is followed by summaries of recent research and perspectives concerning prenatal aneuploidy screening for twin pregnancies, twin conceptions by same-sex male couples, legal personality of conjoined twins, and a twin study of cannabis use. Interesting information about twins that has appeared in the media is also presented, namely how being taken for twins saved a pair of sisters; twin children of a jailed Nobel Prize winner, British 'biracial' twins, triplets born at the start of Russia's attack on Ukraine, and twins born in different years.
Asunto(s)
Embarazo Gemelar , Estudios en Gemelos como Asunto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Embarazo , Aneuploidia , Diagnóstico Prenatal , Gemelos Siameses , Útero/anomalíasRESUMEN
This article begins with an overview of twin research in Brazil, initiated by the University of São Paulo Panel of Twins. I met with many new research collaborators and students while on a fall 2023 four-city lecture tour in that country. A meeting with a world-famous surgeon who recently separated craniopagus conjoined twin pairs is also described. This overview is followed by summaries of twin research on binge eating, twins' physical outcomes linked to different diets, working conditions and sickness absence in Swedish Twins and facial morphology differences in monozygotic twins. The final section of this article provides a sampling of human interest stories with important implications. They include a Michigan family forced to adopt their own twins, ethical issues surrounding the hiring of a surrogate to bear twins; twin survivors of the Israel-Hamas war, a twin pregnancy with a double uterus, and three twin pairs on the same women's soccer team.
Asunto(s)
Gemelos Monocigóticos , Humanos , Femenino , Gemelos Monocigóticos/genética , Brasil/epidemiología , Embarazo , Suecia/epidemiología , Estudios en Gemelos como Asunto , Enfermedades en Gemelos/genética , Enfermedades en Gemelos/epidemiología , Michigan/epidemiología , Universidades , Condiciones de Trabajo , Anomalías de la Duplicación UterinaRESUMEN
An overview of circumstances in which twins take the place of their co-twin is presented. Various explanations and speculations are proposed for understanding twins' willingness to do so in certain situations. This section is followed by reviews of timely twin research, namely single versus multiple embryo transfer; neurimaging of twins with periventricular nodular heterotopia; a twin dietary comparison; and a new book of twin-related readings from Hungary. The final portion of this article concerns human interest stories that both inform and entertain. They involve valedictorian and salutatorian twins; a mother delivering twins at age seventy; twins reunited by TikTok; a new film about twins with selective mutism; and twins becoming doctors.
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Twins' memoirs and autobiographies both enlighten and entertain. These works, often overlooked by researchers, may suggest new avenues for investigation, such as nonshared environmental events that propel twins in different directions. Of course, MZ twins' generally parallel experiences and DZ twins generally criss-crossing paths are the bases of fascinating life stories. The following sections examined recent research on fetal reduction in twin pregnancy, twins' personality and military service, growth restriction in twins, and advances in conjoined twin separation. This article closes with reports of a scientist who performed gene editing on twins, a twin conception from 33-year-old embryos, twins' physical outcomes from dietary differences, fraternal twins with the world's largest height difference and the Twin Home Experts who conquer rat infestation in New York.
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Personal Militar , Gemelos Siameses , Embarazo , Femenino , Humanos , Animales , Ratas , Adulto , Gemelos Dicigóticos/genética , Embarazo Gemelar/genética , Gemelos Monocigóticos/genética , Reducción de Embarazo Multifetal , Edición Génica , Personalidad , Genética HumanaRESUMEN
Waardenburg's syndrome involves deafness accompanied by various visual difficulties. The role of twins in identifying this disorder and advancing understanding of its origins and symptoms is described, beginning in 1916 and continuing to the present. This overview is followed by current research on monozygotic (MZ) twins' different dermatoglyphic features, twins with sagittal suture crainosynostosis, blood pressure in female twins, and MZ twins' education and political knowledge. The final section presents media reports describing controversies surrounding twins created by reciprocal in vitro fertilization, reared-apart triplets' limited TV series, abducted twin infants, the Winkelvoss twins' charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and going from 'Me' to 'We'.
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Síndrome de Waardenburg , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Presión Sanguínea , Dermatoglifia , Fertilización In Vitro , Suturas , Gemelos Dicigóticos , Gemelos Monocigóticos/genética , Estudios en Gemelos como AsuntoRESUMEN
The experience of going through the personal library of our late esteemed twin research colleague, Dr Irving I. Gottesman, is described. I came away with fond memories and unexpected treasures. This essay is followed by brief reviews of timely research on factors affecting callous-unemotional traits, depressive symptoms in prospective Chinese twin mothers, twins with sagittal suture craniosynostosis, and creative expressiveness and educational achievement. Media reports on informative topics of interest to researchers and the general public include male-female twin Holocaust survivors, nontuplets born in Mali, Indian twins who married the same man, twins born from the longest frozen embryos, an infant twin abduction and twins born in different years.
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Estudios en Gemelos como Asunto , Humanos , Trastorno de la Conducta , Craneosinostosis/genética , Depresión/genética , Pueblos del Este de Asia , Escolaridad , Holocausto , Malí , Madres , Estudios Prospectivos , Sobrevivientes , Suturas , Gemelos Monocigóticos/psicología , Creatividad , Estudios en Gemelos como Asunto/historia , Historia del Siglo XXRESUMEN
The circumstances and subsequent life events of the first twins to have been born in different countries are examined. Given that both twins were born in the United Kingdom, their common citizenship was never questioned. In contrast, twins born in Canada to a legally married gay transnational couple - composed of one American and one Israeli - were assigned as citizens of different nations and their parents were regarded as if unmarried. This essay is followed by reviews of research on the Hallermann-Streiff syndrome in monozygotic (MZ) twins, the effects of technology on conjoined twin separation, reciprocal deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) transplantation in MZ twins and new guidelines for managing multifetal pregnancies. Finally, media reports on a book by the world's oldest Auschwitz-Birkenau twin survivor, the passing of Dr Ian Wilmut, the identical twinship of Zhores Medvedev, another case of gay fathers with twin sons, twins and siblings admitted to medical school, and the first and fourth records for major league baseball twins are presented.
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The 18th International Society for Twin Studies convention took place between June 15-17, 2023, in Budapest, Hungary. A selective sampling of highlights from the meeting are presented. This is followed by a brief overview of ongoing twin research at the University of Aberystwyth in Wales and some twin treasures in the National Library. Next, reviews of timely research that examine temperamental similarities and twin relations, the maximization of twin research designs, a rare ectopic twin pregnancy, and twins' academic self-concept formation are presented. The final section covers stories appearing in various media sources that are informative, enlightening, and interesting, namely a reunion of identical infant twins, the birth of identical-fraternal quadruplets, identical twin comedians, meeting an unrelated look-alike, and twins in the Tour de France.
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Twin research proceeds at a rapid pace, with new findings constantly modifying our knowledge and thoughts about many issues. In the present article, this concept is applied to the writing of books and articles about twins, with special emphasis on the author's recent experience. My lead essay in most contributions to the News, Views and Comment section of this journal is usually followed by a review of current research findings; however, significant events necessitated a departure from this format. At this time, it is important to both honor and remember colleagues and twins, both past and present. The final entry in this article highlights media events that variously pose biological and social implications for our field. They include the hardships of Ukrainian twins during wartime; twins born in different years; identical twin surrogacy, a quaternary family and abducted twins in Serbia.
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Gemelos Monocigóticos , Humanos , Serbia , Gemelos Monocigóticos/genéticaRESUMEN
The focus of this article is on insights gained from the extraordinary dynamics that took place between a pair of reunited monozygotic female twins from Greece. Topics include visualizing the co-twin prior to meeting, the unique love and attraction between the twins, a mother's response to discovering her child's cotwin and the challenges posed by insufficient kinship categories. The following section of this article surveys four recent twin research reports. They include Bereavement and Lifespan Associations; Novel Mutations in Twins; Parenting Premature Multiples; and Conjoined Twins. The final part of this article presents interesting and informative news about twins from popular sources. The topics covered are the passing of Madeline Albright (Secretary of State and mother of twins); identical twin songwriters; visually impaired twin and sibling skiiers; identical twin brothers who both received heart transplants; and the naming of the Genain quadruplets.
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Gemelos Siameses , Gemelos Monocigóticos , Aflicción , Niño , Comparación Transcultural , Femenino , Trasplante de Corazón , Humanos , Longevidad , Masculino , Música , Mutación , Responsabilidad Parental , Hermanos , Estudios en Gemelos como AsuntoRESUMEN
The unique sources of artistic inspiration and talent of twin artists are examined. The professional literature is rich with twin studies of creativity, but lacking when it comes to specific artistic domains - for example, painting and sculpting. The section that follows provides reviews of current research on ethnic and racial factors affecting type of twin delivery, pregnancy outcomes when twins are conceived naturally or with reproductive assistance, the effects of intrauterine growth discordance on the timing of twin delivery, and three-dimensional (3D) assessment of twins' facial resemblance. The final section summarizes information about twins in the media. The stories include twins distinguished for both baseball playing and physical injuries, twins who reached the National College Athletic Association's Elite 8, a twin pair's grave and epitaph, a mother who conceived twins three times in 2 years, twins in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a set of superfetated twins.
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Béisbol , Baloncesto , Hockey , Complicaciones del Embarazo , Femenino , Humanos , Embarazo , Factores Raciales , Gemelos , Estudios en Gemelos como AsuntoRESUMEN
Quadruplets are at elevated physical risks at prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal levels, relative to twins. A brief review of this area is followed by discussion of a female quadruplet with three co-quadruplet brothers. Next, several timely twin research reports are examined. The topics include antenatal corticosteroids and twins' neonatal outcomes, the meaning of fatherhood in families with twins, what doppelgängers (look-alikes) reveal about physical and behavioral similarity, and monozygotic (MZ) co-twin discordance for asymmetric pigmented paravenous chorioretinal atrophy. A lawsuit involving alleged cheating on a medical school examination by identical twins is also reviewed. General interest stories cover opposite-sex twin Holocaust survivors, twin models at a Gucci fashion show, twins with different fathers, reunited female twins who entered the same convent, the death of an MZ female twin soldier during training, and the surgical separation of conjoined twins in Brazil.
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Holocausto , Personal Militar , Gemelos Siameses , Femenino , Humanos , Recién Nacido , Masculino , Embarazo , Corticoesteroides , Sobrevivientes , Gemelos Monocigóticos/genéticaRESUMEN
Selected highlights from the 2021 Congress of the International Society for Twin Studies are reviewed. The perspectives of a new graduate student member to the society are also included. Timely research covering issues related to maternal bonding with twins, twins with Peters anomaly, selective termination in dichorionic twin pairs and neuropsychological functioning in twins with neurofibromatosis is reviewed. The final part of this article includes interesting and informative media reports related to the world's most premature survivor who is a twin, identical male baseball players, Malaysian twins switched at birth and a pair of the so-called 'biracial' twins.
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Enfermedades en Gemelos , Estudios en Gemelos como Asunto , Humanos , Sociedades CientíficasRESUMEN
Heteropaternal superfecundation (HP) occurs when two or more ova are fertilized by sperm from separate males. The resulting siblings are genetically equivalent to half-siblings and share, on average, 25% of their inherited genetic material. In the absence of genetic testing HP siblings could be treated as dizygotic (DZ) twins in behavioral genetic analyses and bias heritability estimates in phenotypic decomposition models. However, the extent to which such misclassification could affect calculated estimates of heritability is currently unknown. Employing simulation analyses, the current study assessed the potential biasing impact across a variety of conditions varying by proportions of DZ twins, sample sizes, and low, moderate, and high levels of genetic and environmental contribution to phenotypic variance. Overall, the results indicated that misclassified HP siblings had minimal impact on estimates of heritability. Nonetheless, greater attention should be paid to the identification of HP siblings within existing and future twin datasets.
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Gemelos/clasificación , Gemelos/genética , Padre , Fertilidad/genética , Humanos , Patrón de Herencia/genética , Hermanos , Gemelos Dicigóticos/genética , Gemelos Monocigóticos/genéticaRESUMEN
Research into the origins of twinning has focused mostly on contributions from the female side of the family. A review of current findings suggests that possible male contributions to twinning events have been overlooked. This section is followed by brief reviews of twin research concerning monozygotic twins discordant for Parkinson's disease, fetal loss in twin pregnancies following prenatal diagnosis, uterine rupture and repair in an early twin pregnancy and a twin study of affectionate communication. The concluding portion of this article presents human interest stories involving twins that are both informative and poignant, namely conjoined twins in a triplet set, identical twin nurses who delivered identical twins, identical twins discordant for COVID-19 recovery course, identical twins who passed away from COVID-19 and archeological finds of the oldest identical twins.
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Enfermedad de Parkinson , Estudios en Gemelos como Asunto , Gemelos Monocigóticos , COVID-19 , Comunicación , Femenino , Muerte Fetal , Humanos , Masculino , Enfermeras y Enfermeros , Enfermedad de Parkinson/genética , Embarazo , Embarazo Gemelar , Diagnóstico Prenatal , Gemelos Siameses , Gemelos Monocigóticos/genética , Rotura UterinaRESUMEN
Selective termination is the term used for the elimination of an abnormal fetus. In contrast, multifetal pregnancy reduction refers to the termination of one or more members of a twin or higher-order multiple birth set, respectively, to reduce the high risks associated with these pregnancies. The procedure can also be used when a serious physical condition is detected prenatally in a member of a multiple birth set. In a minority of cases, selective termination has reduced two healthy fetuses to one when parents wanted just one additional child in the family. In the present article, the perspectives of a surviving twin whose family wished to terminate both healthy fetuses are examined. Next, past and present twin studies of primordial dwarfism, public service motivation, an analytical model, the global twinning rate and germline differences are summarized. The article concludes with a synopsis of twin-related news that covers twins and Dyngus Day, triplets born in an Austrian displaced persons' camp, the film Superior - about estranged identical twin sisters, a couple adopting their own twins after surrogacy and a new case of twins and primordial dwarfism, a condition introduced in the research reviews.
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Enanismo , Refugiados , Austria , Niño , Femenino , Células Germinativas , Humanos , Motivación , Embarazo , Gemelos MonocigóticosRESUMEN
The processes that give rise to monozygotic (MZ) twins remain elusive. This article describes various theories of MZ twinning that have been examined over the years, although they continue to be speculative. It has also been impossible to know if a singleton began life as an MZ twin; however, a critical technological breakthrough can now reveal this important birth history information with a high degree of certainty. The section that follows presents reviews of current research regarding rare twin loss, development of a twin registry, twins' communicative delays and DNA testing for vanishing twins. The article concludes with a survey of newsworthy twins, namely identical twins discordant for COVID vaccination, the world's oldest identical twins, an Olympic athletic stand-in and fraternal twin football players.
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COVID-19 , Fútbol Americano , Atletas , COVID-19/prevención & control , ADN , Gestos , Humanos , Lenguaje , Sistema de Registros , Gemelos Dicigóticos , Gemelos Monocigóticos/genética , VacunaciónRESUMEN
Every reared-apart monozygotic (MZ) twin pair offers a fresh perspective on human developmental questions. This is true regardless of whether the co-twins were raised in the same country or across the globe. The members of two pairs of separated MZ female twins have recently come to attention. In one case the twins were raised by different families in Argentina; in the other case the twins were raised by different families in Sweden and Vietnam. The perceptions and perspectives of these twins are insightful. The twin research section that follows begins with a tribute to our late esteemed colleague, Dr Isaac Blickstein (1953-2020). Research concerning the infanticide and sacrifice of Archaic-aged twins and triplets and prehistoric twin burials is reviewed next. Highlights from a conference focused on the 2018 film Three Identical Strangers are also included in this portion. The final section of this article includes media reports of an atypical twin father, an actor's twin brother, a twin link to the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma massacre, the birth of superfetated twins, twin comedians and script writers and Indian twins' tragic loss to COVID-19.
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COVID-19 , Hermanos , Anciano , Entierro , Padre , Femenino , Humanos , Recién Nacido , Infanticidio , Masculino , Oklahoma , SARS-CoV-2 , Gemelos Dicigóticos , Gemelos Monocigóticos/genéticaRESUMEN
Modern reproductive technology and revisions of conventional family structures have yielded a curious array of twin-like sibships. Many of these pairings pose the same rearing questions and educational issues for parents and teachers as do ordinary monozygotic and dizygotic twins. This article considers how we classify these sibships, given the important implications for the pair members, their families, their friends and the professionals who care for them. Next, reviews of research on twins' birth weight and brain development, twinning and vocabulary knowledge, fetal loss in twin pregnancy and twin-family Olympic medal winners are presented. The final topic covers recent media attention to young twin soldiers, a twin-run laundry, a male-female pair's political differences, a twin-based graphic novel and twin sisters' deliveries.
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Distinciones y Premios , Personal Militar , Peso al Nacer , Encéfalo , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Política , Embarazo , Embarazo Gemelar , Gemelos Dicigóticos/genética , Gemelos Monocigóticos , VocabularioRESUMEN
China's One-Child Policy (1979-2015) limited rural families to two children and urban families to one child. This practice, which led to the abandonment of hundreds of thousands of female infants, is indirectly responsible for the separate placement of infant twins. The availability of this sample launched the first prospective study of these pairs. Participants include families and twins comprising 15 monozygotic (MZA) pairs and 7 dizygotic (DZA) pairs from countries throughout the world. The research program is described, and the initial wave of IQ scores for MZA and DZA twin pairs is examined in the first comprehensive report from this study. The twins' mean age at participation was 9.41 years (SD = 6.36), and their ages ranged from 3.19 to 24.98 years. Informative contrasts with adopted-together Chinese twins and virtual twins (same-age unrelated individuals reared together) highlight shared genetic and environmental effects on intellectual development. Applied directions based on findings from these novel samples are described.