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Brazilian Twin Mystery the Result of Nazi Experiment?

Posted by samzenpus on from the boys-from-brazil dept.

The small Brazilian town of Candido Godol is noteworthy for its large German population and remarkable for its twin birth rate. The town has approximately 80 families and 44 sets of twins, a rate that is 1000% higher than normal. Many theories have sprung up over the years to account for the anomaly. National Geographic explores one of the latest and perhaps the most disturbing, the possibility that the twins are a result of an experiment conducted by Nazi scientist Joseph Mengele.

3 of 14 comments (clear)

  1. Typo by Cantus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The town's name is Cândido Godói (or Candido Godoi in ASCII). Please fix.

  2. Founder effect, anybody? by TheClockworkSoul · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As it turns out, the town was founded by only 8 families, and only minimally intermarried with anybody from outside. Hmm... for some reason, the term "founder effect" comes to mind.

  3. Re:only 1000%? by DavMac · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Actually, no, it's 11 times as many as normal.

    "100% higher than normal" = 2 times as many as normal.

    "1000% higher than normal" = 11 times as many as normal.