• Question: Does every cell in your body have a different DNA and are identical twins born with the same DNA?

    Asked by Muffin to Natasha on 7 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Natasha Myhill

      Natasha Myhill answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      In general, all the cells in your body contain your DNA – but differences in cell type or function can be down to what parts of the DNA are expressed. So in theory, a muscle cell switches on genes that make it do the job of a muscle cell but it could still have inactive DNA to tell it to do another job. In terms of twins, identical (also known as monozygotic) twins do have the same DNA when they are first made, but when the embryos develop, little differences can occur and they are also shaped by the environment around them.

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