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The value of twins in dental research
Author(s) -
Townsend GC,
Richards L.,
Hughes T.,
Pinkerton S.,
Schwerdt W.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/j.1834-7819.2003.tb00014.x
Subject(s) - twin study , trait , dizygotic twins , evolutionary biology , biology , psychology , computer science , heritability , medicine , obstetrics , programming language
Due to recent advances in molecular genetics, studies of twins will continue to provide important insights into how genetic and environmental factors contribute to variation in human physical and behavioural traits and disorders. This review emphasizes that biometrical genetic studies of twins are particularly valuable in complementing and directing molecular approaches to facilitate the detection of quantitative trait loci. It also describes several other research models involving twins, apart from the traditional comparison of similarities in monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (non‐identical) pairs, that have the potential to provide new information in the future. Current knowledge about the genetic bases of common dental problems is summarized and future directions in dental research involving twins are outlined.