Twins were in the news like crazy this week, and because I'm fortunate enough to be a twin, I read the articles because I like to see what they are saying about us.
The New York Times ran a story on Monday about astronaut Commander Scott Kelly and his identical twin brother, Mark Kelly (husband to Gabby Giffords). Next year, Scott Kelly will return to space for an extended stay, "and after his return, scientists will closely monitor Commander Kelly to see what changes space has wrought." NASA will also be monitoring Mark Kelly (now retired). As the Kelly's will be the only identical twins to have flown in space, scientists plan to do a full genome analysis of the brothers to study how environment changes genes.
Because the twin birth rate in the U.S. is climbing (twin birthrate rose 76 percent from 1980 to 2009, according to the National Center for Health Statistics...yes, someday, we will take over the world), more "twin" studies than ever are being done, which means more articles, more myths, leading to more fascination.
I don't like admitting to reading the Huffington Post, but they also ran a story on Monday that caught my eye, "11 Facts About Twins That Make Them Even Cooler Than You Already Thought." The number one fact they mention...identical twins do not have identical fingerprints. We don't!
Another interesting fact (not mentioned in the article): Though rare, it is possible for identical twins to have different blood types. Identical twins come from the same egg and the same sperm, so we share nearly identical DNA, but some small changes in DNA can happen.
So, because it is Thursday, I dug out a TBT picture of me and my identical twin sister, and a selfie we took in 2012. Wonder twin powers. Activate.
Amphitrite
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