Chemical changes to genes make twins’ pain differ

Chemical changes to pain genes may explain different tolerances to pain, even in identical twins.

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Genetically identical twins may not experience pain to the same extent because of differences in the way their genes have been chemically modified.

A study of identical twins and of unrelated individuals shows that differences in chemical changes to TRPA1, a gene that directs the production of a temperature-sensing protein, is connected to pain tolerance. The finding, with additional work, may help explain how chemical changes to pain genes influence the way people detect pain could possibly help with treatments, researchers report February 4 in Nature Communications

Ashley Yeager is the associate news editor at Science News. She has worked at The Scientist, the Simons Foundation, Duke University and the W.M. Keck Observatory, and was the web producer for Science News from 2013 to 2015. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a master’s degree in science writing from MIT.

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