The similarities between separated identical twins Essay

Due to shared identical genetics, identical twins separated early in age have been the perfect test subjects for the nature versus nurture studies. Scientists feel that because of being genetically identical any differences the twins display would be due to their environment. Since the twins are usually not in their biological families it also allows scientists the opportunity to observe if there are certain traits that are inherited. The Minnesota Twin Family Study that was conducted from 1979 1999 followed twins, both identical and fraternal which were separated at an early age (http//www.livescience.com/47288-twin-study-importance-of-genetics.html). I found it interesting that in the studies they observed that genetics played a large influence on personality, environment affected the personality if the twins were raised apart but not if they were raised together. This surprised me because I thought that environmental experiences relationships, how we are raised and cultural experiences would have had a much greater impact on how our behavior and personalities are formed. The study of Jim Lewis and Jim Springer, identical twins that were raised apart from the age of 4 weeks was very intriguing. When the twins were reunited in 1979 at the age of 39, they found that both of them suffered from tension headaches, were prone to nail biting, smoked Salem cigarettes, drove the same type of car and even vacationed at the same beach in Florida (http//www.livescience.com/47288-twin-study-importance-of-genetics.html). This study is amazing in that although certain traits such as the tension headaches, nail biting and smoking could have been through inherited characteristics, the fact that they both smoked the same brand of Salem cigarettes, drove the same type of car and vacationed at the same beach in Florida would seem to have been personal choices and would have probably been based on environmental influences rather than genetics. I find it amazing that two men separated so early would share such a close bond that they would make such similar choices in their lives. The same was true for many of the twin subjects regarding religion. They were either religious or not religious regardless of environmental influence.
"How much of a persons' personality is determined by nature, and how much is determined by nurture? (Ciccarelli and White page 231) This question remains a very controversial topic amongst the scientific community. Many of the results that I found when researching the topic seem to indicate that there is an equal balance between the inherited and the learned. It seems to me that the two are interwoven. There are so many things that make up each of us as individuals that it seems hard to distinguish between the genetic and the environmental factors. If we are all strictly genetic replicas of our gene pool, then we would all be clones of our parents. I think the environmental influences change and modify who we are genetically and help to create each of us as amazing individuals. It will be interesting to see how future studies continue to shed light on who we are as individuals.