著者

大木 秀一

出版者

日本生理人類学会

雑誌

日本生理人類学会誌 (ISSN:13423215)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.22, no.2, pp.97-105, 2017 (Released:2017-10-31)

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The usefulness of twin studies as an approach to genetic study in the field of physiological anthropology is discussed. Twin studies are used to investigate the heritability of multifactorial traits, including physiological traits. The study of twins is also a powerful tool in molecular genetic studies, for example, in the detection of epigenetic differences between monozygotic twin pairs. The importance of a life-course approach is also discussed. However, a literature review showed that less than 5% of studies in physiological anthropology in Japan were genetic studies, and very few of these were twin studies. More genetic studies are expected to be performed in the field of physiological anthropology in the future.