Charlie Chasen and Michael Malone met in Atlanta in 1997, when Mr. Malone served as a guest singer in Mr. Chasen’s band. They quickly became friends, but they didn’t notice what other people around them did: The two men could pass for twins.

查理·蔡森和邁克爾·馬龍於1997年在亞特蘭大相識✘◕·◕，當時馬龍在蔡森的樂隊中擔任客座歌手╃▩•╃↟。他們很快成為了朋友✘◕·◕，但他們沒有注意到周圍的人是如何看待他們的·◕·₪↟：這兩個男人看上去完全可以是雙胞胎╃▩•╃↟。

Mr. Malone and Mr. Chasen are doppelgängers. They look strikingly similar, but they are not related. Their immediate ancestors aren’t even from the same parts of the world; Mr. Chasen’s forebears hailed from Lithuania and Scotland, while Mr. Malone’s parents are from the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

馬龍和蔡森是所謂的“二重身”——他們的相貌驚人地相似✘◕·◕，卻沒有血緣關係╃▩•╃↟。他們的直系祖先甚至不是來自世界的同一個地方；蔡森的祖先來自立陶宛和蘇格蘭✘◕·◕，馬龍的父母來自多明尼加共和國和巴哈馬群島╃▩•╃↟。

The two friends, along with hundreds of other unrelated look-alikes, participated in a photography project by François Brunelle, a Canadian artist. The picture series, “I’m not a look-alike!,” was inspired by Mr. Brunelle’s discovery of his own look-alike, the English actor Rowan Atkinson.

這兩個朋友✘◕·◕，以及其他數百名沒有親戚關係的相貌相似者參加了加拿大藝術家弗朗索瓦·布魯內爾的一個攝影計劃╃▩•╃↟。這個作品系列名為“我不是高仿↟│╃↟•！”✘◕·◕，靈感來自布魯內爾發現了他自己的“高仿版”——英國演員羅溫·阿特金森╃▩•╃↟。

The project has been a hit on social media and other parts of the internet, but it’s also drawn the attention of scientists who study genetic relationships. Dr. Manel Esteller, a researcher at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain, had previously studied the physical differences between identical twins, and he wanted to examine the reverse: people who look alike but aren’t related. “What’s the explanation for these people?” he wondered.

該計劃在社交媒體和網際網路的一些地方引起了轟動✘◕·◕，但也吸引了研究基因關係的科學家注意╃▩•╃↟。西班牙巴塞羅那何塞·卡雷拉斯白血病研究所的研究員曼內爾·埃斯特勒博士此前曾研究過同卵雙胞胎之間的生理差異✘◕·◕，他想研究的是相反的情況·◕·₪↟：長得很像但沒有血緣關係的人╃▩•╃↟。“該怎麼解釋這些人·╃·▩？”他想╃▩•╃↟。
原創翻譯·◕·₪↟：龍騰網 http://www.ltaaa.cn 轉載請註明出處


In a study published Tuesday in the journal Cell Reports, Dr. Esteller and his team recruited 32 pairs of look-alikes from Mr. Brunelle’s photographs to take DNA tests and complete questionnaires about their lifestyles. The researchers used facial recognition software to quantify the similarities between the participants’ faces. Sixteen of those 32 pairs achieved similar overall scores to identical twins analyzed by the same software. The researchers then compared the DNA of these 16 pairs of doppelgängers to see if their DNA was as similar as their faces.

週二發表在《細胞報告》(Cell Reports)期刊上的一項研究中✘◕·◕，埃斯特勒和他的團隊從布魯內爾的攝影活動中招募了32對長得很像的人進行DNA測試✘◕·◕，並完成有關他們生活方式的問卷調查╃▩•╃↟。研究人員使用面部識別軟體來量化參與者面部的相似性╃▩•╃↟。在這32對參與者中✘◕·◕，有16對的總體得分與使用同一軟體分析的同卵雙胞胎相似╃▩•╃↟。然後✘◕·◕，研究人員比較了這16對二重身的DNA✘◕·◕，研究他們的DNA是否和他們的外貌一樣相似╃▩•╃↟。
原創翻譯·◕·₪↟：龍騰網 http://www.ltaaa.cn 轉載請註明出處


Dr. Esteller found that the 16 pairs who were “true” look-alikes shared significantly more of their genes than the other 16 pairs that the software deemed less similar. “These people really look alike because they share important parts of the genome, or the DNA sequence,” he said. That people who look more alike have more genes in common “would seem like common sense, but never had been shown,” he added.

埃斯特勒發現✘◕·◕，與軟體認為不太相似的另外16對參與者相比✘◕·◕，16對相貌“真正”相似的參與者的基因共享程度要高得多╃▩•╃↟。“這些人看起來真的很像✘◕·◕，因為他們擁有同樣的基因組或DNA序列的重要部分✘◕·◕，”他說╃▩•╃↟。長得更像的人擁有更多的共同基因✘◕·◕，“這似乎是常識✘◕·◕，但從來沒有被證明過✘◕·◕，”他補充說╃▩•╃↟。

However, DNA alone doesn’t tell the whole story of our makeup. Our lived experiences, and those of our ancestors, influence which of our genes are switched on or off — what scientists call our epigenomes. And our microbiome, our microscopic co-pilot made up of bacteria, fungi and viruses, is further influenced by our environment. Dr. Esteller found that while the doppelgängers’ genomes were similar, their epigenomes and microbiomes were different. “Genetics put them together, and epigenetics and microbiome pulls them apart,” he said.

然而✘◕·◕，DNA本身並不能說明我們身體的全部情況╃▩•╃↟。我們的生活經歷✘◕·◕，以及我們祖先的生活經歷✘◕·◕，會影響我們基因的開啟或關閉——科學家稱之為我們的表觀基因組╃▩•╃↟。我們身體中的的微生物組——由細菌☁│◕•₪、真菌和病毒組成的微觀副駕駛——進一步受到環境的影響╃▩•╃↟。埃斯特勒發現✘◕·◕，雖然二重身的基因組很相似✘◕·◕，但他們的表觀基因組和微生物組卻不同╃▩•╃↟。“遺傳學把他們放在一起✘◕·◕，表觀遺傳學和微生物組則把他們分開✘◕·◕，”他說╃▩•╃↟。

This discrepancy tells us that the pairs’ similar appearances have more to do with their DNA than with the environments they grew up in. That surprised Dr. Esteller, who had expected to see a bigger environmental influence.

這種差異告訴我們✘◕·◕，外表相似的兩人更多與其DNA有關✘◕·◕，而不是與成長環境有關╃▩•╃↟。這讓埃斯特勒感到驚訝✘◕·◕，他原本預計會看到更大的環境影響╃▩•╃↟。

Because the doppelgängers’ appearances are more attributable to shared genes than shared life experiences, that means that, to some extent, their similarities are just the luck of the draw, spurred on by population growth. There are, after all, only so many ways to build a face.

因為二重身的長相更多要歸因於共同的基因而不是共同的人生經歷✘◕·◕，這意味著在某種程度上✘◕·◕，他們的相似只是人口增長作用下的偶然事件╃▩•╃↟。畢竟✘◕·◕，長相的生成模式只有那麼多╃▩•╃↟。

“Now there are so many people in the world that the system is repeating itself,” Dr. Esteller said. It’s not unreasonable to assume that you, too, might have a look-alike out there.

“現在世界上人太多了✘◕·◕，這個系統正在自我重複✘◕·◕，”埃斯特勒說╃▩•╃↟。某個地方也可能會有跟你長得很像的人✘◕·◕，這種假設不是沒有道理╃▩•╃↟。

Dr. Esteller is hopeful that the study’s findings will help doctors diagnose illness in the future — if people have similar enough genes to look alike, they might share predilections for diseases too.

埃斯特勒希望該研究結果能在未來有助於醫生診斷疾病——如果人們的基因相似到長相也相似✘◕·◕，那或許他們的易患疾病也是相同的╃▩•╃↟。

“There seems to be something pretty strong in terms of genetics that is making two individuals who look alike also having genome-wide similar profiles,” said Olivier Elemento, the director of the Englander Institute for Precision Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, who was not involved with the study. Discrepancies between DNA’s predictions and people’s actual appearances might alx doctors to problems, he said.

“兩個長相相似的個體也擁有相似的全基因組圖譜✘◕·◕，這可能與遺傳學有很大關係✘◕·◕，”紐約威爾康奈爾醫學院英格蘭德精準醫學研究所所長奧利維爾·埃萊門託說✘◕·◕，他並未參與這項研究╃▩•╃↟。他表示✘◕·◕，如果DNA預測的結果和人的實際外貌不一致✘◕·◕，這就可能值得醫生的警惕╃▩•╃↟。

Dr. Esteller also suggested that there could be lixs between facial features and behavioral patterns, and that the study’s findings might one day aid forensic science by providing a glimpse of the faces of criminal suspects known only from DNA samples. However, Daphne Martschenko, a postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics who was not involved with the study, urged caution in applying its findings to forensics.

埃斯特勒還表示✘◕·◕，面部特徵和行為模式之間可能存在聯絡✘◕·◕，該研究結果或許也能在未來助力司法科學研究✘◕·◕，僅靠DNA樣本就能一窺犯罪嫌疑人的長相╃▩•╃↟。並未參與這項研究的斯坦福大學生物醫學倫理中心博士後研究員達芙妮·馬爾琴科表示✘◕·◕，此研究結果在司法鑑定中的應用需要謹慎╃▩•╃↟。

“We’ve already seen plenty of examples of how existing facial algorithms have been used to reinforce existing racial bias in things like housing and job hiring and criminal profiling,” Dr. Martschenko said, adding that the study “raises a lot of important ethical considerations.”

“我們已經看到有大量案例表明✘◕·◕，在住房☁│◕•₪、就業和犯罪分析等問題上✘◕·◕，現有面部演算法是如何被用於強化現存種族偏見的✘◕·◕，”馬爾琴科表示✘◕·◕，她還說✘◕·◕，該研究“引發了許多重要的倫理考量”╃▩•╃↟。

Despite the potential pitfalls of lixing people’s appearances with their DNA or their behavior, Mr. Malone and Mr. Chasen said the look-alike project, and the knowledge that we all might have a secret twin out there, was a means of bringing people together. The two have remained friends for 25 years; when Mr. Chasen got married last week, Mr. Malone was the first person he called. While not everyone with similar DNA shares such a bond, Mr. Malone said that he saw Mr. Brunelle’s photography project as “another way to connect all of us in the human race.”

儘管將人的長相與其DNA或行為進行關聯存在隱患✘◕·◕，但馬龍和蔡森表示✘◕·◕，這個外貌雷同計劃✘◕·◕，以及知道每個人可能都有一個未知的雙胞胎兄弟姐妹這一點可以拉近人們的距離╃▩•╃↟。他們兩人的友誼已經持續了25年；蔡森上週結婚時✘◕·◕，馬龍是他第一個去電通知的物件╃▩•╃↟。雖然不是所有DNA相似的人都能有這樣的紐帶✘◕·◕，但馬龍說✘◕·◕，他認為布魯內爾的攝影計劃是“又一種將人類所有成員連結到一起的辦法”╃▩•╃↟。