Having a living replica of oneself might be an attractive prospect that some consider only possible through future medical wonders, but identical twins have been something of a marvel since humans have been producing offspring.
For Lorianne and Christina Boscarino, life has always been shared with a person whose appearance is identical their own.
"It's kind of funny because when people first meet me, they are surprised to find out that I have a twin sister," said Lorianne, a freshman business major. "We look identical, but we actually never got the DNA tests done to see if we are for sure."
According to Margaret Hollingsworth, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, there are a few major differences between identical and fraternal twins.
"For identical twins, the single (fertilized) embryo separates early on, and two or more viable pieces are formed," said Hollingsworth. "These eggs have the same genes."
Hollingsworth said while identical twins are the result of a single egg splitting into two separate ones, fraternal twins come from two separate egg and sperm combinations entirely.
According to Emedicine.com, every four out of 1,000 births in the world are identical twins. While the Boscarino twins are proud to be two in a thousand, being identical in a large university setting has its nuisances.
"My sister's friends will wave to me in the hallway sometimes, thinking that I am her," said Christina, a student in the School of Management. "I don't know who these people are, but I don't want them to think that I am being rude, so most of the time I smile and wave and just pretend I am Lorianne."
Though their extreme physical likeness might bring about a few uncomfortable situations, the girls said that when it comes to personality, they have their differences.
"We have similar tastes in clothes and music, but usually different taste in boys," said Lorianne. "We usually don't end up dressing the same, even though today it was purely coincidental that we happened to be wearing black shirts and jeans."
While some with a propensity for trickery might use their identical appearance for mischief, the Lorianne and Christina said they stay away from the trouble.
"We wanted to switch places for a day when we were younger," said Lorianne. "But I chickened out and was afraid we would get caught. We've never switched lives for a day or anything like that."
Christina and Lorianne chose not to share dorm rooms with each other, but ended up in the same building. They also had a few classes together, purely by chance.
"I didn't necessarily want to be roommates with my sister in college because we have been living together for 18 years," said Christina. "But it is nice to know that she is so close."
According to the twins, the one thing that brings them together in spite of their hectic, opposing schedules is singing.
"Our voices sound different, but when we sing together, our voices just blend together, almost as if it is only one person singing," said Lorianne. "We have been singing together since we were little kids. It really brings us together."
According to Lorianne and Christina, while being "together" is comforting in many ways, it is sometimes difficult to get people to recognize them as individuals.
"It's hard sometimes because it is just natural for people to always associate us with each other," said Christina. "We are two separate people, but sometimes people just lump us as only one."
Even with the struggle for individual recognition, Christina said she would not trade having her twin sister at her side.
"We have an older sister, but there is something about having a twin that is special," said Christina. "We can tell each other everything, even things we might not want to tell our older sister."
Going to college together has been a good experience so far for the girls. While still having their own lives, it is nice to be able to rely on each other, they said.
"I'm glad my sister is here. We are going through the exact same things at the exact same time, so it's nice to know that I can have someone that can relate to me," said Lorianne.
"Ditto," said Christina.
