Abstract
In the course of twin studies whose main focus was elucidation of genetic and environmental factors on behavioral traits, many twin researchers became aware of the strong tendency for dizygotic (DZ) twinning to run in families. Over four decades, Nick Martin and others initiated hormone and ultrasound studies, performed segregation and pedigree analyses, tested candidate genes, carried out linkage projects in sister pairs and formed large collaborations to illuminate the genetics of DZ twinning by genome-wide association studies and meta-analysis. This article summarizes the early work on hormone and genetic studies and describes the meta-analyses that have at last met with success in finding the first genes that predispose to DZ twinning, which also appear to influence many other female reproductive traits.
Highlights
Twin researchers like Nick Martin, who love twins for the power of the classical twin design, who work with twin data, recruit twins into their studies, and interact with twins and their relatives, become inspired by the data they collect and by the questions they are asked by twin families
Nick Martin was confronted by questions from mothers of twins wanting to know ‘which set of their twins’ he wished to study, why twins seem so plentiful in their family and — most pressing — what the recurrence risk might be of their having another set of twins
Nick and others initiated hormone and ultrasound studies, performed segregation and pedigree analyses, tested candidate genes, carried out linkage projects in sister pairs and formed large collaborations to illuminate the genetics of dizygotic (DZ) twinning by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and meta-analysis
Summary
Twin researchers like Nick Martin, who love twins for the power of the classical twin design, who work with twin data, recruit twins into their studies, and interact with twins and their relatives, become inspired by the data they collect and by the questions they are asked by twin families. Nick and others initiated hormone and ultrasound studies, performed segregation and pedigree analyses, tested candidate genes, carried out linkage projects in sister pairs and formed large collaborations to illuminate the genetics of dizygotic (DZ) twinning by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and meta-analysis.
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Schedule a callMore From: Twin research and human genetics : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies
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