World first study tunes in on singing twins

Are golden tonsils born or made? A major international twin study hopes to investigate the relative roles of genetic and environmental influences on singing ability. A 2013 University of Melbourne pilot of 108 sets of identical and fraternal twins, plus 77 twins whose co-twin didn't participate, found identical pairs were more likely to share singing skill levels - suggesting the ability to hold a tune has a genetic component. Researchers now need 1500 pairs of twins for an Australian Research Council-funded, world-first major study to test those findings. Led by University of Melbourne and University of Montreal researchers, the project involves the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, with help from Twins Research Australia. It needs same-sex fraternal and identical twins aged 15 or over who do not have a significant hearing impairment. Researchers are currently recruiting within Australia but hope to add international participants eventually. Among them will be Melbourne identical twins Lee and Paula Bowman, who sing professionally with Julian  Sammut  in the award-winning band Jetty Road.