Genetic question: Do Identical Twins share the same fingerprints or DNA?
Identical twins START identical, but differences just accumulate with age. Even at a DNA level, mutations can and do occur almost every time a cell divides. Given the huge volume of DNA each of us has, this doesn’t always accumulate to huge differences, but it does mean that one twin won’t have EXACTLY the same DNA as his other… just a heck of a lot closer than any other relationship (parents and siblings share about 50% of their DNA while twins are pretty close to 100%). Likewise, there are a lot of changes to DNA that are made in the process of growing. Some genes are turned off or on, and because this is often in response to environmental factors this means that twins can end up looking fairly different in spite of their near-identical DNA. Fingerprints are not determined directly by DNA, but more by growth patterns, blood pressure, and other factors during development. Most identical twins thus have similar but different fingerprints (rather like most of their features). Again, t
