Are Genetics Responsible for Allergies? :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Are Genetics Responsible for Allergies? A Study In Identical TwinsEveryone has each suffered from some kind of allergy, or knows soul who has suffered from allergies. Allergies be the etymon of irritating symptoms, ranging from a painless skin blossom to life-threatening breathing problems. For years, researchers obligate been trying to find out the source of these allergies. Some consume suggested that environmental factors or early exposure to trusdeucerthy foods can cause allergies later in life, while otherwises say that allergies are caused by genetics. To test the latter theory, many researchers study monovular correspond to see if sets of tally share allergies. If both twins were to share a particular allergy, than this may prove that allergies are genetic.To completely understand the curio of this essay, one must understand the difference between identical twins and fraternal twins. Twin zygosity is the genetic relationship of twins. There are dickens types of t wins monozygotic twins, also known as identical twins, and dizygous twins, also known as fraternal twins. Identical twins film merely identical deoxyribonucleic acid strands they are same sex and they have very similar physical traits. They come from one egg that is fertilized by one sperm. Some time after conception, the egg splits resulting in two babies. Fraternal twins whole have half identical DNA that is, only one strand of the double-stranded DNA is the same. They come from two item-by-item eggs that are fertilized by two individual sperms. They are either same sex or different sex, and are just worry siblings of same parents born at different times. There are other kinds of twins as well for example, mirror-image twins, polar body twins, and half-identical twins. These names bear on to the time that the egg splits in identical twins. This essay, however, will deal with only identical and fraternal twins (5). The question now is, Are identical twins allergic to the sam e things? Since identical twins have exactly identical DNA, the sharing of allergies can shed some light on the role of genetics in allergies. All sorts of food allergies affect eight percent of children and two percent of adults in the join States. Allergic reactions emit because ones immune system overreacts to regular foods that are ordinarily harmless to the worldwide population (7). An allergy affecting many children and adults recently in the United States is an allergy to peanuts. In the last few years, tremendous amounts of people have developed this allergy, which seems, in most cases, to be very severe.