DNA markers reveal if you shared a womb with twin that didn't survive

By Clare Wilson

A feature swab trial could uncover if you erstwhile had a twin

Shutterstock/New Africa

About 1 successful 8 radical had a duplicate embryo that didn’t past to term, and successful aboriginal determination whitethorn beryllium a elemental feature swab trial that tin uncover if you are successful this group.

Jenny van Dongen astatine VU Amsterdam successful the Netherlands and her colleagues person recovered that identical twins transportation a diagnostic signifier of alterations to their DNA, known arsenic epigenetic changes, that isn’t seen successful radical who didn’t person duplicate embryos. These variations hap successful aboriginal gestation and past into adulthood.

Epigenetic changes are chemic modifications of DNA that assistance support genes turned connected oregon off. In aboriginal pregnancy, embryos acquisition swathes of specified alterations to programme antithetic cells to go the assorted parts of the body.

Van Dongen wondered if this process would enactment otherwise successful aggregate pregnancies. About one successful 100 births globally are of twins, but studies person suggested that 12 per cent of radical could person had a duplicate embryo astatine immoderate constituent during gestation that didn’t survive. Although this whitethorn beryllium referred to arsenic vanishing duplicate syndrome, determination tin beryllium disposable remains.

The researchers looked astatine 4 existing epigenetic studies of twins from the UK, Australia, the Netherlands and Finland that had taken either humor samples oregon feature swabs to get DNA samples. They recovered 834 areas of DNA wherever the epigenetic signifier was antithetic successful identical twins compared with azygous births.

Identical twins signifier erstwhile a precise aboriginal embryo splits into 2 due to the fact that the cells neglect to adhere to each other, and immoderate of the epigenetic changes recovered successful this survey affected genes progressive successful compartment adhesion. “We whitethorn person identified a mechanics that causes cells to split,” says van Dongen. “It’s besides imaginable that these changes originate aft the cells separate.”

With further development, it should beryllium imaginable to make a familial trial to place if you erstwhile had a duplicate embryo, says van Dongen. Any companies wishing to commercialise the probe request to amended its accuracy, as, for instance, if idiosyncratic had an identical duplicate embryo astatine immoderate constituent during pregnancy, the existent trial would beryllium affirmative lone 70 per cent of the time, says van Dongen. What’s more, immoderate trial based connected this enactment wouldn’t prime up radical who had a non-identical duplicate embryo.

“We don’t cognize yet if the relation volition beryllium maintained arsenic we get much data, but this is simply a precise absorbing mode to start,” says Richard Meehan astatine the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Journal reference: Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25583-7

Sign up to our escaped Health Check newsletter for a round-up of each the wellness and fittingness quality you request to know, each Saturday

More connected these topics:

• gestation and birth