Twins in Aging Studies, Essay Example

The Use of Monozygotic Twins in Aging Studies

As the population in the United States gets older, the issues of age-related diseases and other age-related issues are becoming increasingly significant. One area that is of particular interest to researchers is that of determining the differences between how genetics and environmental factors impact age-related health issues. Many health problems can also be related to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, and understanding how these factors combine to contribute to disease is increasingly important. For aging researchers, the use of monozygotic (identical) twins can be a useful and helpful way to gain insight into age-related health issues. By focusing on two subjects with the same genetic makeup it may be possible to examine the different environmental factors each twin has encountered and determine what sorts of effects these conditions have had on the development of age-related diseases.  In the study on this by Steves et al, the authors propose that twins do in fact serve as effective “human models” for investigating the interaction between environment and genetics.

The authors note that research into aging populations has shown a wide variability in the rates of disease and other health problems in older adults.  While some breakdown of function and prevalence of disease is considered to be a normal part of aging, it is clear that some conditions can be avoided, while others seem to affect different people at wildly different rates. The heritability of certain genetic conditions, for example, may lead to disease in some individuals while others with the same genetic predispositions will not develop the same problems. For researchers in this area of inquiry who wish to find out what triggers susceptibility it can be especially helpful to have twin subjects to study. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has expressed similar ideas about twin studies, such as in a study about obesity and aging in which twins were used to make determinations about environmental and genetic factors and their contribution to obesity (Newett et al, 2007).  The paper from Steves et al makes a solid case for the use of twins in age-related research, though if it has any particular weakness it is that it does not explicitly explain how many studies it reviewed in order to reach its findings.

References

Newell, A.; Zlot, A.; Silvey, K.; Ariail, K. Addressing the obesity epidemic: a genomicsperspective. Prev Chronic Dis [serial online] 2007 Apr. Available from:  http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/apr/06_0068.htm.

Steves, C. J., T. D. Spector, and S. H. D. Jackson. ‘Ageing, Genes, Environment And Epigenetics: What Twin Studies Tell Us Now, And In The Future’. Age and Ageing 41.5 (2012): 581-586. Web.