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Comparisons of monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (fraternal) twins have been used in genetic studies for more than 100 years to distinguish between genetic and environmental causes of disease. In this study, researchers examined DNA copy-number variations (CNVs) using white blood cells from 19 monozygotic twin pairs that were phenotypically either concordant or discordant for neurodegenerative disease. The researchers found evidence of somatic changes in both concordant and discordant twin pairs that must have occurred during development and that affected both chromosomal architecture and CNV of DNA segments.
CNVs were found between the members of discordant pairs (which explained the discordance), but CNVs were also found between concor…