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Blood Typing and Twin Zygosity: A Comparison of Two Methods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

David T. Lykken*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Research Unit, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
*
Psychiatry Research Unit, Box 392, Mayo, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

Abstract

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In a recent paper in this journal [5], Wilson offers a revision of his previously published method [4] for diagnosing the zygosity of twins from bloodtype findings. Wilson notes that his revised method will yield the same results (given the same estimates of gene frequencies) as will the methods described by Smith and Penrose [2], Sutton et al [3], and Lykken [1], and he advocates his new method, over the others, as being “simplest and most direct.” He also reinterprets various quantities employed by Lykken and proposes a different index of the efficiency of a genetic marker for zygosity diagnosis. In this note, I attempt to clarify the relationship between Wilson's revised method and my own, so that the reader can more accurately assess their relative advantages.

Type
Letter to the Editor
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1981

References

REFERENCES

1. Lykken, DT (1978): The diagnosis of zygosity in twins. Behav Genet 8:437473.Google Scholar
2. Smith, SM, Penrose, LS (1955): Monozygotic and dizygotic twin diagnosis. Ann Hum Genet 19:273289.Google Scholar
3. Sutton, HE, Clark, PJ, Schull, WJ (1955): The use of multi-allele genetic characters in the diagnosis of twin zygosity. Am J Hum Genet 7:180188.Google Scholar
4. Wilson, RC (1970): Bloodtyping and twin zygosity. Hum Hered 20:3056.Google Scholar
5. Wilson, RS (1980): Bloodtyping and twin zygosity: Reassessment and extension. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 29:103120.Google Scholar