Twin Research for Everyone

From Biology to Health, Epigenetics, and Psychology

1st Edition - August 17, 2022
Editors: Adam D. Tarnoki, David L. Tarnoki, Jennifer R. Harris, Nancy L. Segal
Language: English
Paperback ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 2 1 5 1 4 - 2
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 2 1 5 1 5 - 9

Twin Research: Biology, Health, Epigenetics, and Psychology is a comprehensive, applied resource in twinning and twin studies that is grounded in the most impactful findings… Read more

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Twin Research: Biology, Health, Epigenetics, and Psychology is a comprehensive, applied resource in twinning and twin studies that is grounded in the most impactful findings from twin research in recent years. While targeted to undergraduate and graduate students, this compendium will prove a valuable resource for scholars already familiar with twin studies, as well as those coming to the field for the first time. Here, more than forty experts across an array of disciplines examine twinning and twin research methodologies from the perspectives of biology, medicine, genetic and epigenetic influences, and neuroscience. Chapters provide clear instruction in both basic and advanced research methods, family and parenting aspects of twinning, twin studies as applied across various disease areas and medical specialties, genetic and epigenetic determinants of differentiation, and academic, neurological and cognitive development.

The presentation of existing studies and methods instruction empowers students and researchers to apply twin-based research and advance new studies across a range of biomedical and behavioral fields, highlighting current research trends and future directions.

Cover Image
Title Page
Copyright
Table of Contents
Contributors
Editor Biographies
Preface
Introduction to twin research for everyone: From biology to health, epigenetics, and psychology
Section 1 Background
Chapter 1 History of Twin Studies
1.1 Twins
1.2 Twin studies
1.3 History of twin studies
1.4 Early twin studies of cognition and personality
1.5 Combining other relatives with twins
1.6 Heritability over age
1.7 Increasing sample sizes
1.8 Twin studies nowadays
1.9 Summary
References
Chapter 2 Prevalence of twinning worldwide
2.1 How is that possible? One delivery and two childbirths at least
2.2 Questions of the methodology of twinning rate
2.3 Effect of assisted reproductive treatment
2.4 One out of twenty-eight births
Acknowledgments
References
Further readings
Chapter 3 Twin family registries worldwide
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Twin family registries across the continents
3.3 International consortia
3.4 Concluding remarks
References
Section 2 Phenomenon of Twinning
Chapter 4 Biology of natural twinning
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Defining factors
4.3 Conception issues
4.4 Maternal dietary factors affecting the frequency of multifetal gestations
4.5 Maternal physical factors and the rate of twinning
4.6 Biological factors tending to increase twinning
4.7 Some unique complications in twin pregnancies
4.8 Maternal risks with a twin pregnancy
4.9 Conclusions and prospectus
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 5 Management and outcome of twin pregnancies
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Antenatal care
5.3 Antenatal complications
5.4 Specific monochorionic pregnancy complications
5.5 Peripartum care
5.6 Peri-conceptional period: a “key window” of intervention?
5.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 6 Conjoined twins
6.1 Introduction
6.2 History of conjoined twins
6.3 Conjoined status in plants and animals
6.4 Development of conjoined twins
6.5 Embryology of conjoined twins, mechanism of their development
6.6 Classification of conjoined twins
6.7 Etiology
6.8 Epidemiology of conjoined twins, genetic and demographic risk factors
6.9 Ethnicity
6.10 Summary
References
Section 3 Twin Families
Chapter 7 Growing up as twins: the perspectives of twin researchers
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Adam & David Tarnoki (MZ twins or Identical Twins)
7.3 Julia Metneki (MZ twin)
7.4 Nancy L. Segal (DZ twin)
References
Chapter 8 Parenting twins, triplets, or more
8.1 Parenting twins, triplets, or more
8.2 Pregnancy
8.3 Birth
8.4 Early months
8.5 Toddler
8.6 School years
8.7 Adolescence
8.8 Special situations
8.9 Adult twins
Chapter 9 Reared apart twins: Background, research, case studies and what they reveal about human development
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Twins raised apart: Past, present, and future
9.3 Fullerton study of Chinese twins reared apart
9.4 Unique case studies
9.5 Twin study controversy
9.6 Research directions
9.7 A quote that will endure
References
Chapter 10 Opposite-sex twins in medical research
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Sharing more than a womb
10.3 What can sex differences in opposite-sex twin pairs tell us?
10.4 Conclusions
References
Section 4 Twin Methodologies
Chapter 11 Establishing a resource for genetic, epidemiological, and biomarker studies: The important role of twin registers
11.1 The first steps
11.2 Strategic planning
11.3 Basic elements
11.4 Conclusion
Appendix
Acknowledgments
Disclosure of Interests
References
Chapter 12 Methodology of twin studies
12.1 Introduction
12.2 A brief note on the biometrical model
12.3 Classical twin study
12.4 Methodological assumptions
12.5 Use of structural equation modeling in twin analysis
12.6 Analysis of discrete traits
12.7 Extension of the classical twin model
12.8 Gene–environment correlation vs interaction
12.9 Structural equation modeling for rGE and G × E interaction
12.10 Final remarks
References
Chapter 13 Twin studies of complex traits and diseases
13.1 All traits are heritable
13.2 Landmark study in twin research: MATCH
13.3 Sex differences in heritability
13.4 Are twin designs the holy grail in heritability studies?
13.5 Psychiatric disorders, comorbidity, and genetic overlap
13.6 Gene-environment interplay
13.7 Mechanisms that lead to rGE and GxE
13.8 Future directions of twin studies of traits and diseases
References
Chapter 14 Use of twin studies to make inference about causation for measured exposures by examining familial confounding
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Previous twin and family study approaches to address causation
14.3 Inference about causation from examination of familial confounding (ICE FALCON)
14.4 Comparison of the CMTM, DoC model, and ICE FALCON
14.5 Applications of ICE FALCON
14.6 Further developments
Funding
References
Chapter 15 Twins in clinical trials
15.1 What is a randomized controlled trial?
15.2 Role of twins in RCTs
15.3 Zygosity and twin assignment across the randomized controlled trials
Acknowledgments
References
Section 5 Behavior
Chapter 16 Twin studies in social science
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Findings from the literature
16.3 The classical twin design
16.4 Assumptions of the twin model
16.5 The future of twin research in the social sciences
16.6 Conclusions
References
Chapter 17 Childhood development of psychiatric disorders and related traits
17.1 Introduction
17.2 Heritability of childhood psychiatric disorders and traits
17.3 Childhood psychiatric disorder and population traits have shared genetic origins
17.4 Genetic contributions to comorbidity across childhood psychiatric disorders and traits
17.5 Stability and change in the development of childhood psychiatric disorders and traits
17.6 Environmental influences on the developmental of childhood psychiatric disorders and traits
17.7 Implications & concluding remarks
References
Chapter 18 Happiness and well-being: The value and findings from genetic studies
18.1 What is well-being?
18.2 Earlier reviews on twin studies on well-being
18.3 New findings of twin studies on well-being
18.4 Related phenotypes
18.5 Specific molecular genetic and environmental influences
18.6 Future directions
18.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 19 Twin study of personality
19.1 Description of personality
19.2 Twin studies of personality traits
19.3 Development trends of personality
19.4 Genetic structure of personality
19.5 Personality as a social behavior
19.6 Discordant identical twin method
References
Chapter 20 Twin research in psychopathology
20.1 Schizophrenia
20.2 Depression and bipolar disorders
20.3 Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)
20.4 Implications and future directions
References
Chapter 21 Cognitive aging: the role of genes and environments in patterns of change
21.1 General cognitive ability
21.2 Specific cognitive abilities
21.3 Molecular genetics
21.4 Cognitive aging in context
21.5 Future directions
References
Chapter 22 Twin studies of smoking and tobacco use
22.1 Introduction
22.2 Natural history of smoking behavior
22.3 Twin studies past and present—the aim of the review
22.4 Genetic and environmental influences on smoking behavior
22.5 Beyond twins
22.6 Causes and consequences of tobacco use
22.7 Conclusion
References
Section 6 Health
Chapter 23 Anthropometric twin studies
23.1 Introduction
23.2 Genetic and environmental variation in anthropometric measures
23.3 Birth outcomes
23.4 Height
23.5 Body mass index
23.6 Other anthropometric measures
23.7 Genetics of growth and development
23.8 Growth in height
23.9 Development of body mass index
23.10 Gene–environment interactions
23.11 Height
23.12 Body mass index
23.13 Conclusions
References
Chapter 24 Twin studies of cardiorespiratory disease, daily cardiovascular activity and imaging
24.1 Introduction
24.2 Cardiorespiratory twin studies
24.3 Twin studies of common chronic lung diseases
24.4 Gaining insight into the heritability of everyday cardiovascular function by twin studies
25.5 Imaging of twins
25.6 Future directions: radiogenomics and imaging epigenetics
References
Chapter 25 Pediatric twin studies
25.1 Introduction
25.2 Respiratory and allergic diseases
25.3 Autoimmune disorders
25.4 Hemato-oncological disorders
25.5 Comorbidity
25.6 Conclusion
References
Chapter 26 Twin-singleton differences
26.1 Why are twin-singleton differences of interest to twin research generally?
26.2 Intrauterine and perinatal twin-singleton differences
26.3 Twin-singleton differences in development
26.4 Twin-singleton differences in behavior and personality
26.5 Twin-singleton differences in morbidity and survival
26.6 Twin-singleton differences in genetic studies
26.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 27 Twin studies of puberty and behavior
27.1 What is puberty?
27.2 Measuring puberty
27.3 Variations in puberty: Gene and environment
27.4 Twin studies of puberty
27.5 Other uses of twin data on puberty when studying behavior
27.6 Methodological issues
27.7 Future directions
27.8 Conclusion
27.9 Takeaways
References
Chapter 28 Musculoskeletal twin studies
28.1 Introduction (MSK conditions)
28.2 How twins can help musculoskeletal research
References
Chapter 29 Contributions of twin studies to cancer epidemiology
29.1 Introduction
29.2 Risk of cancer in twins compared to singletons
29.3 Patterns of occurrence of cancer in twins
29.4 Studies of acquired risk factors for cancer in twins
29.5 Intraplacental metastasis of infantile leukemia
29.6 Cancer treatment, screening and survivorship in twins
29.7 A novel epidemiological approach to quantify the familial and non-familial, genetic and non-genetic, measured and unmeasured causes of variation in risk
Summary
References
Chapter 30 Epigenetic studies of neurodevelopment in twins
30.1 Introduction
30.2 The role of epigenetics in neurodevelopmental disorders
30.3 The role of twins in studying epigenetics of NDDs
30.4 Epigenetic twin studies in autism spectrum disorder
30.5 Epigenetic twin studies in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
30.6 Epigenetic twin studies of dimensions of cognitive development
30.7 Epigenetic twin studies in cerebral palsy
30.8 Epigenetic twin studies in epilepsy
30.9 Current issues for study of NDDs in twins
30.10 The future of twin studies in contributing to understanding the role of epigenetics in neurodevelopmental disorders
References
Chapter 31 Contributions of twin research to the study of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
31.1 Genetic and environmental influences of ADRD
31.2 Evaluating ADRD risk and protective factors
31.3 A new conceptualization of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
Summary and future directions
References
Section 7 Twin Research: Genetics, Epigenetics, Microbiome, and Environmental Adaptation
Chapter 32 Twins and omics: the role of twin studies in multi-omics
32.1 Introduction
32.2 Genomics
32.3 Epigenomics
32.4 Transcriptomics
32.5 Metabolomics
32.6 Twin studies in other omics domains
32.7 Discussion
32.8 Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 33 Epigenetics
33.1 Introduction to epigenetics and epigenomics
33.2 Challenges in epigenetic research
33.3 Value of twins in epigenetic research
33.4 Key findings from epigenetic studies involving twins
33.5 Technical and statistical methods in epigenetics
33.6 Future of epigenetic twin studies
References
Chapter 34 An experiment in cotwin control: adaptation to space travel
34.1 Introduction
34.2 Twins reared apart and together
34.3 Space travel: effects on adaptive systems
34.4 Review of findings: a twin in space
34.5 Discussion
Acknowledgments
References
Chapter 35 Environmental risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders: Evidence from twin studies
35.1 Rationale and aims
35.2 Introduction
35.3 Zygosity and chorionicity
35.4 Twins as a model for developmental variation
35.5 The intrauterine environment
35.6 Twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS)
35.7 Selective fetal growth restriction (sFGR)
35.8 Twin anemia–polycythemia sequence (TAPS)
35.9 Neurodevelopmental disorders
35.10 Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
35.11 Autism spectrum disorder
35.12 Cerebral palsy
35.13 Schizophrenia
35.14 Epilepsy
35.15 Environmental influences on neurodevelopment in twins
35.16 Maternal immune activation
35.17 Maternal obesity and gestational diabetes
35.18 Maternal hypertension
35.19 Maternal smoking
35.20 Alcohol
35.21 The female reproductive microbiome
35.22 Conclusion
References
Chapter 36 Microbiome studies and twin research
36.1 Basic concepts of the microbiome and microbial analysis: what are the differences between classical microbiology and microbiome studies?
36.2 Analytic approaches in microbiome studies
36.3 Assessing taxonomic composition, function, and diversity of microbial community
36.4 Microbiome associations with human diseases and the application of the knowledge to the treatment
36.5 Twin research for microbiome studies
36.6 Summary and conclusion
References
Chapter 37 Chromosomal anomalies, monogenetic diseases, and leukaemia in twins
37.1 Genetic background
37.2 Mechanisms of twin discordance
37.3 Postzygotic chromosomal nondisjunction and chromosomal mosaicism
37.4 Different levels of triplet repeat expansion
37.5 Postzygotic point mutations
37.6 Skewed X-inactivation
37.7 Other epigenetic mechanisms
37.8 Copy number variations (CNVs)
37.9 The value of twin studies in leukaemia research
Gene abbreviation list
References
Section 8 Conclusion
Summary and concluding statement
Appendix—Resources
Index

Adam D. Tarnoki

Dr. Adam D. Tarnoki is an assistant professor, radiologist and twin researcher at Semmelweis University Medical Imaging Center and Department Head, Department of Radiology at National Institute of Oncology, Budapest, Hungary. He is a founding member of the Hungarian Twin Registry. He has presented more than 200 international lectures and has authored over 150 publications. He is a board member of the Hungarian Society of Radiologists and teaches radiology in English, German and Hungarian at Semmelweis University. Dr. Tarnoki serves as vice-president of the Hungarian Medical Association of America Hungary Chapter. He has also served as a member of the local organizing committee and Faculty of the 3rd World Congress on Twin Pregnancy and the 15th Congress of the International Society for Twin Studies (ISTS) in Budapest, Hungary, 2014 and the local host of the 19th International Congress on Twin Studies hold online in November, 2021. He serves as a deputy editor-in-chief of the Hungarian Radiology journal and he is the president of the International Society of Twin Studies (ISTS) since 2022.

Affiliations and expertise

Radiologist and Researcher, Department of Medical Imaging, Semmelweis University, Hungarian Twin Registry, Budapest, Hungary

David L. Tarnoki

Dr. David L. Tarnoki is an assistant professor, radiologist and twin researcher at the Semmelweis University Medical Imaging Center and Head of Oncologic Imaging Diagnostic Center, National Institute of Oncology, Budapest, Hungary. He is a founding member of the Hungarian Twin Registry and has presented more than 200 international lectures and authored over 150 publications. He is the board member of the Hungarian Society of Radiologists and teaches radiology in English, German and Hungarian at Semmelweis University. Dr. Tarnoki serves as secretary of the Hungarian Medical Association of America Hungary Chapter and is a member of the Academy of Young Researchers, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He has also served as a member of the local organizing committee and Faculty of the 3rd World Congress on Twin Pregnancy and the 15th Congress of the International Society for Twin Studies (ISTS) in Budapest, Hungary, 2014 and the local host of the 19th International Congress on Twin Studies hold online in November, 2021. He is the secretary of the International Society of Twin Studies (ISTS) since 2022.

Affiliations and expertise

Radiologist and Researcher, Department of Medical Imaging, Semmelweis University, Hungarian Twin Registry, Budapest, Hungary

Jennifer R. Harris

Dr. Jennifer R. Harris is currently a Research Director at the Center of Fertility and Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, Norway. She has interdisciplinary training in life-span development and genetics. She has been conducting twin research throughout her academic career. She is the past president of the International Society for Twin Studies, a recipient of the James Shields Award for outstanding research in behavioral genetics, and is the scientific director of the Norwegian Twin Registry. Dr. Harris has broad commitment to the wider scientific community and serves on several expert panels, boards, steering groups, scientific advisory committees and editorial boards.

Affiliations and expertise

Director of Research, Center for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

Nancy L. Segal

Dr. Nancy L. Segal is currently Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fullerton and Director of the Twin Studies Center. She has authored over 250 scientific articles and book chapters, as well as seven books on twins, most recently, Deliberately Divided: Inside the Controversial Study of Twins and Triplets Adopted Apart. Her 2012 book, Born Together-Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota twin Study, won the 2013 William James Award from the American Psychological Association. Dr. Segal has received several international awards, including the James Shields Award for Lifetime Contributions to Twin Research (International Society for Twin Studies) and the International Making a Difference Award (Multiple Births Canada). She is also the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Wang Family Excellence Award from California State University. Dr. Segal has contributed to national and international media, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. She has been a frequent guest on national and international television and radio programs, such as the Today Show, Good Morning America, the Martha Stewart Show, the Oprah Winfrey Show, The Forum (BBC) and the Hidden Brain National Public Radio).

Affiliations and expertise

Psychology Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fullerton and Director of the Twin Studies Center, CA, USA