Saturday, April 07, 2012

Black White Twins Show Rare Genetic Possibilities

For those who do not believe genes can do outrageous things.

"While very rare, the phenomenon is not unknown, though it does entail a very particular combination of circumstances at the moment of conception. First, both parents must be of mixed race. Second, the twins must be fraternal (each conceived from a separate egg fertilized by separate sperm) as opposed to identical (both conceived from a single egg and sperm). Third, each sperm and egg must carry the genes for a particular skin color (i.e., black/black or white/white)."

In the case of the males pictured, the Caribbean father assuredly carried some European genes that recombined, in rare fashion, with the white mother.

For those interested, here is a technical genetic explanation of what is going on (here).

James C. Collier

READ MOST RECENT POSTS AT ACTING WHITE ACTING BLACK...

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

More cuties. The second segment has a couple that had two sets of "black/white" twins.

Anonymous said...

Whoah! Those photos are mind-blowing! Seriously.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. We all are pretty similar genetically.

Too damn bad we don't start treating each other like it.