Can identical triplets have different DNA? (2023)

Could identical twins have different DNA explain?

Dr. Cantor explains that in most instances, a pair of identical twins share the same DNA when they split. However, she continues, a recent report found that some developing twin embryos may already have genetic differences.

Identical twins form from the same egg and get the same genetic material from their parents — but that doesn't mean they're genetically identical by the time they're born.

Because these are different eggs and different sperm, the genetic material is varied. These children won't look identical and can be different sexes from each other. In a pregnancy with triplets or more, your babies could be all identical, all fraternal or a mixture of both.

Identical, or monozygotic, twins may or may not share the same amniotic sac, depending on how early the single fertilized egg divides into 2.

They come from the same fertilized egg and share the same genetic blueprint. To a standard DNA test, they are indistinguishable. But any forensics expert will tell you that there is at least one surefire way to tell them apart: identical twins do not have matching fingerprints.

In 99.9% of cases boy/girl twins are non-identical. However, in some extremely rare cases resulting from a genetic mutation, identical twins from an egg and sperm which began as male (XY) can develop into a male / female pair.

The study of 381 pairs of identical twins and two sets of identical triplets found that only 38 were genetically identical, Tina Hesman Saey reports for Science News. Most had just a few points of genetic mismatch, but 39 had more than 100 differences in their DNA.

Humans share 99.9% of our DNA with each other. That means that only 0.1% of your DNA is different from a complete stranger! However, when people are closely related, they share even more of their DNA with each other than the 99.9%. For example, identical twins share all of their DNA with each other.

Everyone is more or less 50% related to each of their parents, but could theoretically be anywhere from 0-100% related to their siblings.

“Most experts put the odds of identical triplets at one in 200 million births,” Tiberius said. “I talked to a statistician and apparently the odds of a 45 year old having identical triplets are one in 20 billion.”

Can triplets have the same mom but different dads?

The Times said the phenomenon of twins or triplets having different fathers can occur when a woman, having ovulated at least twice in the same cycle, sleeps with more than one man within 24 hours and conceives children by them.

Identical triplets or quadruplets are very rare and result when the original fertilized egg splits and then one of the resultant cells splits again (for triplets) or, even more rarely, a further split occurs (for quadruplets).

It doesn't matter if they are identical or fraternal; all twins, triplets, et cetera, et cetera, have their own umbilical cords. This means that, no matter what, there will be cord blood and cord tissue that can be (SPOILER: and should be) collected and preserved for each twin.

In a previous review of the literature, only 3 cases of true conjoined triplets have been found. However, all 3 cases occurred in the 19th or early 20th century. 3, 4, 5 Because conjoined triplets are rare, there is no classification system for this disorder.

– Decuplets: a combination of 10 of a kind. In this case, babies! A South African woman has reportedly given birth to 10 babies at once, besting a world record set just last month.

The probability of the STRs all being identical in two unrelated people is less than 1 in a trillion. DNA testing became a standard legal tool for identifying criminal suspects and resolving paternity disputes. But for all its power, the test could not tell identical twins apart.

Monoamniotic-monochorionic Twins

These types of twins share a chorion, placenta, and an amniotic sac. This is the rarest type of twin, and it means a riskier pregnancy as the babies can get tangled in their own umbilical cords.

Identical twins will always have the same blood type because they were created from the same fertilized egg (fraternal twins can have different blood types — again, providing the parents do — because they are created by two fertilized eggs).

Polar twins. Polar twins share the same chromosomes from their birthing parent, but they get different chromosomes from their non-birthing parent. This is because they're created from a single egg but two separate sperm.

Many experiments over the years have failed to prove that twins feel each other's pain.

What is a mirror twin?

The term mirror twin is used to describe a type of identical, or monozygotic, twin pairing in which the twins are matched as if they're looking into a mirror — with defining characteristics like birthmarks, dominant hands, or other features on opposite sides.

A codon is the triplet of a set of bases (or nucleotides) in DNA that codes for an amino acid.

There are 64 possible nucleotide triplets (4 possible nucleotides in groups of three = 4³), which is far more than the number of amino acids. Three of these codons are stop codons: UAA, UAG, and UGA.

However, a triplet code produces 64 (4³ = 64) possible combinations, or codons. Thus, a triplet code introduces the problem of there being more than three times the number of codons than amino acids.

On average full siblings will share about 50% of their DNA, while half siblings will share about 25% of their DNA. The actual amount may vary slightly since recombination will shuffle the DNA differently for each child.

Full siblings share approximately 50% of their DNA, while half-siblings share approximately 25% of their DNA.

How much DNA do cousins share? You share around 50% of your DNA with your parents and children, 25% with your grandparents and grandchildren, and 12.5% with your cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews, and nieces. A match of 3% or more can be helpful for your genealogical research — but sometimes even less.

On average, over the 22 pairs that aren't XY, full siblings will share around half the DNA on each chromosome pair. Half siblings will share half their DNA on only one of each pair. Half of half is 25%.

Sibling DNA Testing FAQs

Yes; sibling DNA testing can establish whether brothers and sisters share either a biological mother or father (half siblings). Can a DNA test determine if siblings have the same father? Yes; testing the DNA of siblings can determine a shared biological father without his involvement.

Can boy and girl triplets be identical?

They can be the same or opposite genders. Triplets can also occur when two of the babies are identical and have formed from monozygotic (identical) twins – see below. This means the other, third baby is a singleton, formed from a completely separate egg and sperm.

Caucasian women, especially those over age 35, have the highest rate of higher-order multiple births (triplets or more).

Identical (monozygotic) twins/triplets are the result of a single egg splitting after conception. These twins will share 100% of their DNA. They are the same sex, have the same blood types, hair and eye color, hand and footprints and chromosomes, yet have different teeth marks and fingerprints.

It won't surprise you to learn that identical triplets are rare: Doctors frequently call these births a one in a million occurrence. They're actually more like a 20 or 30 in a million occurrence, according to research, but that's still pretty nifty.

Although this is quite rare it can happen and it's called superfetation. Two babies are conceived from separate acts in two different cycles. These babies can be from the same father or two different men. When heteropaternal superfecundation occurs, the babies are from different fathers.

Full siblings share the same biological mother and father, maternal half-siblings share the same mother only, and paternal half-siblings share the same father only. Therefore, full siblings share, on average, 50% of their genes with one another and half siblings share approximately 25%.

Identical siblings are much more rare: Only about one in 250 births is identical twins, according to a 2003 study in the Journal of Biosocial Science. Identical triplets are even less common, occurring about 20 to 30 times per 1 million births, the study found.

For example, triplets can result from one zygote (an egg fertilized by one sperm) dividing into three. This means that the triplets would be genetically identical. Triplets could also occur if one of two zygotes divide in half.

Since embryo splitting is a random spontaneous event that happens by chance, it doesn't run in families. Genes are not involved and there's no scientific evidence that being from a family with identical multiples has any impact on your odds of having twins. The same is not true for fraternal twins.

Naturally, twins occur in about one in 250 pregnancies, triplets in about one in 10,000 pregnancies, and quadruplets in about one in 700,000 pregnancies. The main factor that increases your chances of having a multiple pregnancy is the use of infertility treatment, but there are other factors.

What is a parasitic twin?

A parasitic twin is a type of conjoined twin where one fetus stops developing but remains attached to its twin. The other twin continues to develop, but is usually born with the limbs, organs or other tissue structures from its parasitic twin still attached. It's a very rare condition. Appointments 216.444.6601.

After turning 63 in 2014, Ronnie and Donnie officially became the oldest conjoined twins living (male) and oldest conjoined twins ever (male), surpassing their heroes, Chang and Eng Bunker.

Ronald Lee Galyon and Donald Lee Galyon (October 28, 1951 – July 4, 2020) were conjoined twins.

According to Guinness World Records, the heaviest baby on record was born in Aversa, Italy, in 1955. That baby boy was born weighing 22 pounds 8 ounces.

According to research, a woman can have somewhere around 15 to 30 babies in her lifetime.

Valentina Vassilyev and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 births.

Some identical twins can have different heights and weights. This is because height and weight are controlled by what you eat as well your DNA. Differences in diet can start earlier than you might imagine. When the twins are growing inside the uterus, there can be differences in how well they connect to the placenta.

Identical (i.e., monozygotic, or MZ) twins share 100 percent of their genes, whereas fraternal (i.e., dizygotic, or DZ) twins generally share only 50 percent of their genes.

Twin embryos sometimes trade chromosomes with each other in their mom's uterus, since they have a shared blood supply. In this case, both babies would be considered chimeras and would have multiple sets of DNA. If chimera twin are different sexes, then, in theory, different cells can carry different sex chromosomes.

The study of 381 pairs of identical twins and two sets of identical triplets found that only 38 were genetically identical, Tina Hesman Saey reports for Science News. Most had just a few points of genetic mismatch, but 39 had more than 100 differences in their DNA.

Can two sperms fertilize one egg?

Occasionally, two sperm are known to fertilize a single egg; this 'double fertilization' is thought to happen in about 1% of human conceptions. An embryo created this way doesn't usually survive, but a few cases are known to have made it — these children are chimaeras of cells with X and Y chromosomes.

Like for their twin parents, there are many fascinating family relationships for the children of twins–when identical twins have children, their children are cousins but genetically as similar as half-siblings.

Yes, it is very likely that two human can look very similar, possibly even identical, but they will never be genetically identical. The odds of this happening are so as close to zero as you can get. Yes, it is possible for two humans to be genetically identical, but so slim that our world may never see.

Humans share 99.9% of our DNA with each other. That means that only 0.1% of your DNA is different from a complete stranger! However, when people are closely related, they share even more of their DNA with each other than the 99.9%. For example, identical twins share all of their DNA with each other.

In semi-identical twins, two separate sperm fertilize one egg. The fertilized egg then splits in two. So, semi-identical twins share all the same chromosomes from their birthing parent, but only about 50 percent from their non-birthing parent.

Although this is quite rare it can happen and it's called superfetation. Two babies are conceived from separate acts in two different cycles. These babies can be from the same father or two different men. When heteropaternal superfecundation occurs, the babies are from different fathers.

Lydia Fairchild (born 1976) is an American woman who exhibits chimerism, having two distinct populations of DNA among the cells of her body.

Abstract. Twin blood group chimerism seems to be very rare in humans. The 30-40 previously reported cases usually were found by mere coincidence during routine blood grouping in hospitals or blood banks. Usually in these cases frank blood group mixtures of, for example, 50/50%, 25/75%, or 5/95% at most were seen.