Slightly Obsessed

Here are some things I've read from the internet about identical twins and their DNA (now I'm obsessed). I think this is VERY interesting. I have to believe that this is true for the most part if they were teaching it in Tiffany's cousin's (half-sister's) class:

1. Still, researchers have largely assumed that identical twins are genetically identical, reasoning that any variations between them were due to solely environmental factors. For instance, the fingerprints of identical twins diverge because they each experience slightly different conditions in their shared time in the womb.

2. As we soon learned, identical twins, formed when one fertilized egg splits, are the only people in the world with identical DNA. Fraternal twins, on the other hand, are formed when two different eggs are fertilized. Genetically speaking, fraternal twins are no closer than normal siblings, sharing only about 50% of their genes.

3. Identical twins have almost identical DNA. We used to think identical twins had identical DNA, because they come from the same fertilized egg, which had only one complete set of DNA in the first place. That fertilized egg and its single set of DNA split to form twin embryos — each with its own set of DNA, identical to the other. But we admitted one small quibble: the DNA sets will be identical, unless one fertilized egg's DNA mutates. Such mutations, however, are normally so tiny that DNA analysis can't detect them.

4. Now scientists find that when it comes to the genetics of identical twins, unexpectedly "there in fact are tiny differences and that they are relatively common," said researcher Jan Dumanski, a molecular geneticist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Okay, there are so many more studies and I'm still reading, but thought I'd share some fun ones. Thanks for indulging me. No matter what they say, I DO and always have considered my cousins sisters more so than cousins. It doesn't matter about DNA, we have a special bond that no one could suggest is anything less than that of sisters. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!