Identical Twins are Not Identically Imprinted : Epigenome in Context of the Genome

As is the case with their fingerprints, imprinted genes are NOT identical in identical twins. In fact, methylation levels vary notably, yet randomly, in localized imprinted regulatory regions, between MZ twins. Even cooler, a new epigenetics clue came out of demonstrating this imprinting variability. This month in PloS one, the collaborators from the Garvin Institute, the University of Nijmegen Medical Centre, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and St. Vincent’s Clinical School, University of NSW, produced the paper Impact of the Genome on the Epigenome Is Manifested in DNA Methylation Patterns of Imprinted Regions in Monozygotic and Dizygotic Twins. by Marcel W. Coolen et al. Blood samples from 128 pairs of identical, and 128 pairs of fraternal teen aged twins, … Continue reading →