Would They Be Identical Twins?
By: Kai Pierre
If two sets of identical twins marry identical twins, will the resulting offspring (the cousins) also be identical twins?
The Possibility of Acquiring Certain Traits: Punnett Squares
The chances of having both children receive the same traits varies between the parents. Their offspring could have any one of the traits their parents do(in this case both couples share the same traits).
Linked below.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uH7ABZ_gRX3bmT7ySJWpxLFg-kWmi0TqVlOk8NfLA94/edit
The couples' offspring could have a 1 out of 4 chance of having the same trait. The chances will be more likely if both parents are homozygous(dominant or recessive), and have more very variation if they both are heterozygous. The chances of the children having the same traits varies between trait and parent.
Different Kinds of Genetic Mutations: Meiosis
Both couples' offspring will have mutations in all kinds of different genes(hair color, eye color, etc.) that causes them to look like to look like their own person, like one of their parents, or not even a part of the family! The likeliness of both couples offspring having the same exact mutations is extremely low.
The couples' offspring could end up with many different mutations, that cause them to look like their parents or a family member that lived long ago(no too long though). This could set the children apart because mutations, because of meiosis are very common and random. Meaning their could be billions, maybe even trillions, of different mutations throughout both couples' offspring.
Further information on Meiosis can be found in the link below.
Genetic Variation
Inheriting traits varies on the child's parents and what genes have been mutated. Mutations in genes are unpredictable and can change the whole look of the child. They can go from looking like their mother to looking like their great grandfather.
Mutations are the main source of variation in all living things. For the general population genetic alteration can be considered as a very common mutation, while most disease-causing gene mutations are uncommon. One of either couples' child could end up with a disease that the other child did not inherit. Even the slightest mutation in a DNA sequence could cause a child to have blue eyes, while the other has brown ones. Mutations in a person's genome could make them look like they aren't even a part of the family.
More About Genetic Variation:
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/mutationsanddisorders/genemutation
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/variation/sources/
Genetic variation is just the change in genetics between parents and offspring. The changes are unpredictable, and(most of the time) not expected. There is nothing we can currently do to predict how a child will look when they're older except guess, this is mainly because all of the different types of mutations and traits they could have.
Albinism
The offspring who carry the gene and are albino would have to be homozygous recessive.