Human Twin Studies
Twin studies are utilized in an attempt to determine how much of a particular trait is attributable to either genetics or environmental influence. These studies compare monozygotic and dizygotic twins for medical, genetic, or psychological characteristics to try to isolate genetic influence from epigenetic and environmental influence. Twins that have been separated early in life and raised in separate households are especially sought-after for these studies, which have been used widely in the exploration of human nature. However, the utility and accuracy of these twin studies has been called into question and remains controversial. Classical twin studies are now being supplemented with molecular genetic studies which identify individual genes.
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Famous quotes containing the words human, twin and/or studies:
“Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)
“If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;
Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show
To move, but doth if th’ other do.”
—John Donne (1572–1631)
“His life itself passes deeper in nature than the studies of the naturalist penetrate; himself a subject for the naturalist. The latter raises the moss and bark gently with his knife in search of insects; the former lays open logs to their core with his axe, and moss and bark fly far and wide. He gets his living by barking trees. Such a man has some right to fish, and I love to see nature carried out in him.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)