As one of the authors of a study whose findings Bruno Maddox misrepresented entirely in the November 2006 issue of DISCOVER ("What a twins convention in the Midwest tells us about the future of humanity," Blinded by Science), I would like to set the facts straight.
First, one does not have to be an identical twin to be offended by Mr. Maddox's tasteless jokes. The difficulty people like Mr. Maddox have in recognizing that twins can both celebrate their likeness and be "normal" individuals at the same time was indeed one of the outcomes of our study. Many twins are insulted by the preconceptions of outsiders who see them as "only two halves" or, as Mr. Maddox does, "creepy."
Our study aimed to see how the lived experience of identical twins, who have identical genetic makeup, could shed light on the ongoing debate about human cloning. Drawing upon 27 in-depth qualitative interviews with identical and nonidentical twins and with nontwin siblings, it examined to which factors identical twins—as opposed to nonidentical twins and nontwin siblings—attributed their special relationships and similarities. We explored questions such as: To what extent did our identical twin respondents perceive their emotional and physical bond to be a result of their genetic makeup? What would they think if they had been deliberately created genetically identical? How would they feel about being genetically identical to a person who was born a few years earlier or later? In addition to gathering this qualitative data, we sent out several thousands of questionnaires to twins (identical and nonidentical) measuring their attitudes on assisted reproduction and human cloning. About 4,600 twins filled in and returned the questionnaires, and while we are still preparing these data for publication, we already published the qualitative findings in a social science journal.
Had Mr. Maddox read our article, he would know that our study was not about individuality, as he claims—the term did not even appear in our questionnaires. He would also find that most twins hold remarkably subtle opinions about genetic sameness and cloning and are a far cry from blindly celebrating their "mutual body," as he suggested. If Mr. Maddox is really so concerned about sound research, it might have been a great idea to delve a bit deeper than "the Yahoo! Science headlines page."
But of course this is not really about Mr. Maddox (although the emotional tenor of his contribution prompted some friends and colleagues to ask me whether I had "ever dumped this guy"). I will also refrain from responding to his Sound of Music clichés about Vienna, as this was a British project and not an Austrian one as he thought. I would, however, like to invite Mr. Maddox to accompany me to visit the Twins Research Unit in London or to any other place where he will meet lots of identical twins who choose not to wear T-shirts announcing their "mutual love" (as legitimate as it is). We could then also discuss his concerns about the future of humanity over a cup of tea and a sandwich, because—just for the record—I have never really liked strudel.
The reference to the qualitative part of our study is Barbara Prainsack and Tim D. Spector (2006) "Twins: A Cloning Experience," Social Science & Medicine 63/10: 2739-2752.
Barbara Prainsack
Department of Political Science
University of Vienna
Vienna, Austria
In Defense of Rats
Hello. I am 13 years old and I am writing because I am deeply offended by the article in the December issue called 20 Things You Didn't Know About Rats. I did not like the way it was written. The people wrote it all about how they want rats to die. I think this offended many rat owners, like me. I own three rats, and I am getting two more soon. I love them deeply. In example #6, at the end they wrote "How sad!" sarcastically. And #10 is telling people to try and kill rats. I am in a rat club, with over 2,000 people in it. There are thousands of people who keep rats as pets. Why didn't you say some of the nice things about rats, such as "Rats are now being used for sniffing out bombs instead of dogs because they can smell better and are trained easier" or "Rats can actually be litter trained" or "Rats are gentle, kind, loving creatures. They will actually lick you like a dog!"
There are hundreds of nice facts about rats that you could have included. Next time you write about rats, please don't write about how you would love it if rats were dead and how you enjoy that some are endangered. It offends thousands of rat lovers. I do not think you would print an article about how you want puppies to die. Rats are equally as affectionate as puppies.
Thank you for reading this.
Zoe Biehl
Walden, New York
 Zoe with one of her pet rats |
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