While identical twins have exactly the same set of genes at birth, researchers have long thought that subtle environmental factors appeared to determine whether the twins began to look and act different as they got older. Now scientists at the Spanish National Cancer Centre in Madrid offer a modified explanation: the epigenome. The term refers to natural chemical changes that affect a person's genome beginning shortly after birth, marking genes for increased or lessened activity.

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The scientists studied the DNA of more than 40 pairs of twins between ages 3 and 70, according to the Washington Post. They were hoping to learn how environmental factors like exposure to pollutants, consumption of certain foods, and significant emotional experiences might cause changes in a person's DNA.

What they found was the young twins had almost identical epigenetic profiles, but their genetic characteristics became more and more different as they aged, the newspaper said.

An environmental event that triggers diminished activity in a gene that helps protect a person against cancer, for example, could explain why one identical twin goes on to develop the disease, while the other doesn't, the researchers said. Their study was published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. – (HealthDayNews)
 

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