04.18.08
Article on Identical Twins
Before I get lost in the day’s activities, I wanted to post a link to an article that I found very interesting. I found it interesting in light of bone marrow transplants. Generally, it’s accepted that if you have an identical twin sibling, then you have a perfect match for a BMT and you’re pretty much guaranteed a successful transplant. But I know I have read that not all identical twin BMTs are successful (not to mention I also saw a list of points that are matched for marrow transplants and there are some that they don’t know what they do yet they say those points are not important! ack!). Anyway, that made me suspicious that identical twins are not always identical. Well, here’s an article which may confirm my suspicions. It’s called, Identical Twins’ Genes Not Identical.
An example of points I thought significant were,
” For example, one twin in Bruder’s study was missing some genes on particular chromosomes that indicated a risk of leukemia, which he indeed suffered. The other twin did not. ”
Also,
“Bruder speculates that such variation is a natural occurrence that accumulates with age in everyone. “I believe that the genome that you’re born with is not the genome that you die with—at least not for all the cells in your body,” he says.”
This second point is something that I had also suspected about so-called genetic conditions. There are those who say that if it’s in your genes, then there’s nothing you can do about it. True the condition is deeper, but who’s to say that it has to always be that way? I thought that it is possible that our genes change due to our environment. This article seems to indicate that it changes for the worse such as exposures to ionizing radiation and such, but if it can go one way, they why not the other way? Don’t bodies heal and cells multiply? Also, why is it some people have a certain gene, but they don’t seem to manifest a disease associated with it. I’m particularly thinking of hematomachrosis where some people have the gene, but not all of them load iron quickly. Or why some people are born with a gene associated with a disease but it doesn’t manifest until they are adults? It’s one thing to have the gene, and another for it to express itself. I’m sure it’s much more complicated than that, but this type of thing is what has made me cringe when people say it’s “genetic.” It comes across to me as a defeatist comment when said in relation to treating illnesses. . . “It’s genetic, so you gotta accept it. . .” I hate that, ha! I know we have limits, but I don’t think we are as limited as we tend to think. And that’s why I found the article interesting. The full article can be read here:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=identical-twins-genes-are-not-identical&ec=su_twins
Have a nice Friday.
Over and out,
Marlakins
