Highlights from the 15th International Congress of Twin Studies/Twin Research: Differentiating MZ Co-twins Via SNPs; Mistaken Infant Twin-Singleton Hospital Registration; Narcolepsy With Cataplexy; Hearing Loss and Language Learning/Media Mentions: Broadway Musical Recalls Conjoined Hilton Twins; High Fashion Pair; Twins Turn 102; Insights From a Conjoined Twin Survivor.

Abstract

Highlights from the 15th International Congress of Twin Studies are presented. The congress was held November 16-19, 2014 in Budapest, Hungary. This report is followed by summaries of research addressing the differentiation of MZ co-twins by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), an unusual error in infant twin-singleton hospital registration, twins with childhood-onset narcolepsy with cataplexy, and the parenting effects of hearing loss in one co-twin. Media interest in twins covers a new Broadway musical based on the conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, male twins becoming famous in fashion, twins who turned 102 and unique insights from a conjoined twin survivor. This article is dedicated to the memory of Elizabeth (Liz) Hamel, DZA twin who met her co-twin for the first time at age seventy-eight years. Liz and her co-twin, Ann Hunt, are listed in the 2015 Guinness Book of Records as the longest separated twins in the world.

• Authors: Nancy L Segal
• Journal: Twin research and human genetics : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies (Twin Res Hum Genet) Vol. 18 Issue 1 Pg. 108-15 (Feb 2015) ISSN: 1832-4274 [Print] England
• PMID: 25662422 (Publication Type: Congress, News)

Topics

• Caregivers (psychology)
• Cataplexy (genetics)
• Diseases in Twins (epidemiology, psychology)
• Female
• Genotyping Techniques
• Hearing Loss (psychology)
• Humans
• Longevity
• Male
• Narcolepsy (epidemiology)
• Patient Identification Systems
• Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
• Twin Studies as Topic
• Twins, Conjoined (psychology)
• Twins, Dizygotic (genetics)
• Twins, Monozygotic (genetics)
• Verbal Behavior