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News, Views and Comments Twin Research (2000) 3, 58–63 y © 2000 Macmillan Publishers Ltd All rights reserved 1369–0523/00 $15.00 www.nature.com/tr NEWS, VIEWS AND COMMENTS Nancy L Segal Department of Psychology, California State University, USA Forgotten Twins ful, so several insightful studies (both might amplify the twins’ existing past and present) may escape noti ce. genetic differences. Recent, rapi d i ncreases i n di zygoti c DZ tw i n i nvesti gati ons have expl ored Neverthel ess, the tw i ns’ geneti c het- (DZ) twinning rates, largely a product associ ati ons betw een fraternal tw i ns’ erogeneity would be the most common of the new assi sted reproducti ve tech- blood group similarities and perceived explanation for their diverging devel- 8 9 nologies (ART), have refocused atten- zygosi ty, i ntel l ectual resembl ance opment. Few i nvesti gators rai se super- 10 ti on on the pl easures and pi tfal l s of and physi cal appearance. More fecundation as an explanation because multiple births. Formerly childless recent work on DZ twins includes superfecundation is assumed to be couples are gratified by their ‘instant genomi c anal ysi s for i denti fyi ng rare. Contrary to conventional fami l i es’, w hi l e physi ci ans grappl e regi ons w i th genes rel evant to age- thought, I believe this remains an rel ated chroni c di seases, such as di a- untested assumpti on, and urge with developmental delays common 11 to premature twins and triplets. Even betes and osteoporosis. renewed respect for the possibility while DZ twinning rates exceed mono- The non-scientific world correctly that superfecundation occurs more zygotic (MZ) twinning rates (a pattern perceives that most fraternal twins frequently. Evidence from other that generally characterized natural lack the striking behavioral and phys- sources supports this view. Estimated ical similarities of identical twins. non-paternity rates range from twinning prior to ART), the majority 13 does not rule! Fraternal twins remain Fraternal tw i ns are, consequentl y, l ess 5–30%, fraternal twinning may be captivating to general audiences than higher among illegitimate births than the forgotten pairs in many scientific 14 and non-scientific undertakings. For their identical counterparts. Almost legitimate births and coital fre- exampl e, the three earl y reared-apart exclusive attention to identical twins quency may be hi gher among w omen in educational programs and other beari ng fraternal tw i ns than among twin studies did not include DZA twin 15 pai rs i n thei r sampl es.1–3 The Minne- public events undermines fraternal women bearing identical twins. It twins’ crucial role in the scientific has been suggested that one i n 12 fra- sota Study of Twins Reared Apart, enterprise. We should never forget that ternal twin pairs are superfecundated, directed by Dr Thomas J Bouchard Jr, i denti cal tw i n resembl ance i s l ess and that bipaternity occurs in one in w as the fi rst i nvesti gati on of tw i ns meani ngful than i denti cal tw i n resem- 400 pai rs but these esti mates are reared apart to systemati cal l y i ncl ude 16 blance compared with that of fraternal preliminary. separated fraternal s.4 Beyond the labo- twins. Furthermore, within the fra- Superfecundated twins attract undi- ratory, identical twins have remained ternal population is a wealth of exotic vided attention when different fathers the preferred parties in documentaries and undiscovered couples that may are i nvol ved. The fi rst sci enti fi c taste and works of fiction. help solve persisting behavioral rid- of these extraordi nary pai rs w as pro- These si tuati ons are understand- dl es. Reapprai sal of sel ected tw i n vided by a famous 1810 report of twins able, but unfortunate. They are under- research methods and fi ndi ngs may be w hose contrasti ng appearances standable because identical twin dif- warranted once the fraternal twin reflected their fathers’ differing eth- ferences provi de persuasi ve evi dence story fully unfolds. ni ci ti es. These remarkabl e pai rs al so of environmental effects on human Fraternal tw i ns’ compl exi ti es begi n occur in Greek mythology, although devel opmental trai ts. Researchers are, with superfecundation, the fertiliza- vari ed versi ons of these events exi st.17 how ever, documenti ng i ncreasi ng ti on of tw o eggs by tw o spermatozoa at Zeus, taki ng advantage of A mphi tyr- numbers and vari eti es of geneti c di f- different times within the same men- on’s absence, assumed hi s l i keness to ferences betw een some i denti cal strual cycl e (usual l y three or four days court his wife, Alcmeme. When her co-twins. These di fferences range from apart).12 Such co-twins are infre- real husband returned several hours variations in X chromosome inactiva- quently detected because their l ater he w as surpri sed by hi s w i fe’s tion patterns in some identical chronol ogi cal age di fference i s sl i ght, lack of enthusiasm and she was baffled 5 (femal e) pai rs to discordance for med- and because their behavioral and by hi s ardor. Tw i ns resul ted from these 6 i cal di sorders and congeni tal anoma- physi cal di fferences are easi l y asso- unions, Hercules (son of Zeus) and 7 lies in others. Rethinking the mean- ciated with their genetic differences. It Iphicles (son of Amphitryon). Zeus ing of identical twin differences may i s, how ever, al so possi bl e for eggs to be al so transformed hi msel f i nto a sw an be w orthw hi l e i n some cases. Fra- rel eased at somew hat greater i nterval s to seduce Leda, wife of Tyndareus. ternal twin differences reflect both (eg 1–2 w eeks), agai n al l ow i ng the Two sets of twins were conceived on geneti c and envi ronmental factors, so possibility of separate conceptions. the same night, Pollux and Helen fraternal twin studies generally offer These tw i ns are more l i kel y to attract (children of Zeus) and Castor and l ess cl ear concl usi ons as to i nfl uences attention because their early devel- Clytemnestra (children of Tyndareus), affecti ng measured phenotypes. Case opmental differences may be more yielding several superfecundated sets. reports and formal investigations lim- pronounced. For example, the rela- Medical science has never docu- i ted to fraternal tw i ns are l ess pl enti - ti vel y greater prematuri ty of one tw i n mented the birth of two pairs of twins Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.40, on 23 Sep 2021 at 11:10:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1375/twin.3.1.58 News, Views and Comments y 59 (quadruplets) in which different two fathers were involved was not patterns.4 Hi gh i denti cal tw i n resem- fathers were responsible for different addressed, but the i nvesti gators bl ance and l ow fraternal tw i n resem- pairs, but this is theoretically possible. acknowledged the difficulties in find- bl ance for measured trai ts may refl ect Medical journals do describe intrigu- ing superfecundated twin pairs in emergeni c effects. Emergenesi s w oul d ing superfecundated twin pairs that Japan’s physically homogenous pop- not affect i denti cal tw i n resembl ance warrant further study. ul ati on. They urged fi rst tri mester because identical twins share 100% of Twins with different fathers were measurement of CRL to di scover the thei r genes. How ever, emergenesi s identified in 1982 when a Caucasian true frequency of this event. w oul d reduce fraternal tw i n resem- mother sought medical attention for Two bipaternal superfecundated blance given the low (but non-zero) her four-year-old fraternal twin girls twin pairs were identified in China in probability of both co-twins inheriting w ho vari ed i n appearance, compl ex- 1994, following paternity testing – a the same unusual gene combination. ion and features of fetal hydantoin w i fe’s extramari tal affai r and an i l l egi t- Superfecundated twins with separate syndrome.18 Fetal hydantoin syn- imate twin birth, rather than apparent fathers differ, by descent, for pater- drome, characteri zed by skel etal and tw i n di fferences, suggested di fferent nally derived genes so their matching crani ofaci al abnormal i ti es, has been fathers, thus prompting genetic test- on emergeni c trai ts i s vi rtual l y i mpos- tied to prenatal exposure to pheny- ing.21 I al so recal l a new s report con- si bl e. A gai n, i ncl udi ng such tw i ns i n toin, a substance the twins’ mother cerning black twins with different smal l tw i n sampl es or si ngl e case received for epilepsy treatment at fathers, a finding revealed only reports coul d yi el d mi sl eadi ng esti - age13. Twins with different fathers because geneti c anal ysi s w as needed mates of geneti c i nfl uence on compl ex were also identified in 1997 when the to diagnose one twin’s medical condi- phenotypes.
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