How can twins be born one with EB and one without if EB is a genetic condition?
A. While that is true for identical twins (meaning, if one identical twin has the condition, the other one, by virtue of the DNA being identical, will have it as well), that is not always the case for fraternal twins. In fraternal twins it is very possible to have babies where one has a genetic condition like EB, and one not. Just like one baby can be born with down syndrome, and the fraternal twin be perfectly healthy. A recessive condition has a 25% chance of developing, and it’s a roll of the dice each pregnancy/baby. Q. I saw on TV a show about a child with EB who got skin grafts and she is now basically cured! Why can’t all patients get this skin graft? A. Dateline NBC had a special in conjunction with People Magazine about Medical Miracles in the summer 2001 which has subsequently rerun on MSNBC on and off since then. The child that received this treatment, Tori Cameron, was the first EB child to receive a skin graft called Apligraf in an effort to heal her extensive wounds. Tori
