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Expert Q&A
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| By Lisa Cipriano Collins Food Allergy Expert | ||
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Are peanut allergies hereditary?
The widely held belief today is that the ?propensity÷ to develop a peanut allergy or any other allergy may be inherited. Still, there exist various environmental factors that may also have an affect on whether or not the peanut allergy is actually developed and expressed. Researchers recently studied twins to better understand the genetic role in the development of peanut allergy. They found that identical twins, who share all of their genes, were much more likely to share peanut allergy than fraternal twins who share about half their genes. Sixty-five percent of the identical twins shared the peanut allergy versus only 7 percent of the fraternal twins. Investigators concluded that there is a significant genetic influence on peanut allergy."
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