Jordana Bell (United Kingdom) presented her keynote lecture, ‘Twin Studies of Obesity: An Epigenetic and Microbiome Perspective’, on the final conference day. He noted that reduced progesterone is associated with cervical ripening, whereas administering progesterone is associated with reduced preterm birth and, consequently, better health outcomes for twins. Roberto Romero (United States) delivered a keynote lecture on the second conference day titled, ‘Progesterone for the Prevention of Preterm Birth in Twin Gestations: Two Parallel Stories’.

However, it may be that Scott lost cells with shorter telomeres, leaving cells with longer telomeres present, rather than showing biological aging. Before and after his flight, Scott's telomeres were unexpectedly longer than Mark's, a sign of increased aging. This study is NASA's first venture into the study of omics, such as epigenomics and DNA sequencing, for which these twins are playing vital roles. Scott volunteered to live at the International Space Station for nearly a year while his MZ co-twin Mark remained on earth. Her presentation, ‘Assessing Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity in Twin Astronauts’, included early findings from the co-twin control experiment involving MZ twins and astronauts, Mark and Scott Kelly. Susan Bailey (United States) delivered the special opening lecture at the conclusion of the first congress day. There is evidence that some MZ twins are more epigenetically different than unrelated infants due to such prenatal influences. Jeffrey Craig (Australia) listed non-shared environmental intrauterine effects that can differ between twins, such as placental dimension, cord insertion, and cord torsion. Long-term physical leisure-time activity has only minor effects on aging after controlling for genetic factors. Elina Sillanpaa (Finland) noted that telomere length and DNA methylation age serve as ‘epigenetic clocks’. She cited her work showing that monozygotic (MZ) twins who smoke have lower methylation levels than their non-smoking co-twins. Jenny Van Dongen (Netherlands) defined the field as molecular mechanisms regulating gene expression that are transmissible. This article summarizes selected highlights from selected sessions of the congress.Ī pre-congress session was devoted to different topics in the study of epigenetics. The following two days included three keynote talks, sixteen parallel sessions, and six poster walks on diverse twin-related topics concerning biological and psychological twin research. The first day ended with an opening ceremony that included the presentation of the prestigious James Shields Award for Lifetime Achievement in Twin Research, a special invited lecture and a welcome reception. The congress commenced with nine pre-congress workshops on varied aspects of multiple pregnancy, epigenetics, multiple birth organizations, twin research registries, and early twin research careers. The event organizer was MCA, an outfit that has arranged past meetings of ISTS. Other members of the International Program Committee included José Luis Bartha and Juan Ramon Ordanna (Spain), Jeffrey Craig and Monica Rankin (Australia), Ruben Quintero, Roberto Romero (United States), Kurt Hecher (Germany), Asma Khalil (United Kingdom), Liesbeth Lewi (Belgium), and Gonneke Willemsen, and Enrico Lopriore (The Netherlands). Gian Carlo di Renzo (Italy) was Chair and Jennifer Harris (Norway) was Chair of Programming. The congress was made possible by contributions from seven supporting industries.

The most highly represented nations were Spain, Italy, and Finland. The 93 participants represented 23 different countries, while the 261 attendees came from 40. The 16th Congress of the International Society for Twin Studies (ISTS) took place in Madrid, Spain, from November 16–18, 2017.

Father finds long lost twins