One human chimera came to light when a 52-year-old woman demanded an explanation from doctors after tests showed that two of her three grown-up sons were biologically unrelated to her.
Although the woman, "Jane", conceived them naturally with her husband, tests to see if she could donate a kidney suggested that somehow she had given birth to somebody else's children.
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr Margot Kruskall, of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, Massachusetts, showed that Jane is a chimera, a mixture of two individuals - non-identical twin sisters - whose cells intermingled in the womb and grew into a single body.
Dr Kruskall believes the most likely explanation is that Jane's mother conceived non-identical twin girls, who fused at an early stage of the pregnancy to form a single embryo, according to a report published today in New Scientist.
For some reason, cells from only one twin dominate in Jane's blood - used for tissue-typing. In her other tissues, however, including her ovaries, cells of both twins live amicably alongside each other, hence the apparently impossible genetics of her three sons.
One son came from an egg derived from the twin whose cells dominate Jane's blood, while his brothers came from eggs derived from the other twin's cells.
Around 30 similar instances of chimerism have been reported, and there are probably many more who will never discover their unusual origins. Most chimeras probably go through life unaware of their unusual constitution.
NEWS: Sons I gave birth to are 'unrelated' to me
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NEWS: Sons I gave birth to are 'unrelated' to me
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www.english100.comRobpol86 wrote:attempting to comprehend this is agrivating me!!! ARGG
sum1 explain it better!
To form twins, an egg either gets fertalized then splits (identical twins) or the egg splits and then gets fertalized by two different sperm (fraternal twins).
A 'chimera' most commonly found in more primitive species, is when the egg splits, each half is fertalized, but it merges into one egg. It is also possible that two sperms fertalized one egg, but that is much less of a possibility. There are now two unique genetic codes in one body.
Jane's children, were formed from eggs constituted of different genetic materials. Jane's husband is the father of all the children, Jane is the mother of one child, Jane's 'twin' who's genetic material 'lives' inside her, is the mother of the others.
This raises many metaphysical and social concerns.
Does this violate Liebnitz's law...are there two things coinsiding at the same place and the same time?
If someone murdered Jane, would it be a double murder?
Should Jane's twin be given the right to vote?
Can I date Jane's twin, and therefore have a threeway?
Michael wrote:In plain English: I am a boy.
For those AOL speakers out there: i ma b0i wat r u a/s/l ken i c ur b00bs?
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