Although monozygotic twins are genetically "almost" identical, a 2012 study of 92 pairs of monozygotic twins found that monozygotic twins acquire several hundred genetic differences early in foetal development. This is caused by mutations (or copy errors) taking place in the DNA of each twin after the splitting of the embryo. It is estimated that, on average, a set of monozygotic twins will have about 360 genetic differences that occurred early in foetal development. However, these changes may have little practical effect. In practice, identical twins look and act in a very similar way.