Very interesting article about IVF. I’ve been reading about how many doctors are now encouraging IVF folks to implant one embryo instead of more than one. Apparently this is due to the higher risks for both mother and babes in multiples pregnancies and births. Turns out, according to this Boston Globe article, that many people still want twins because it ensures them of having more than one child.
Researchers have discovered twins who are neither identical nor fraternal; actually, they’re chimeras, a little of both. The twins are identical in terms of their mother’s genes, but they only have half of their father’s genes in common. Read the article on news@nature.com and blog posts in response at LiveScience.com and ScientificAmerican.com.