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Some of you may be chimeras!

#1

drawn_inward

drawn_inward

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/science/dna-double-take.html?pagewanted=all

Very interesting article! I was familiar with the twins' shared DNA/blood, but I had no idea about women with Y chromosomes from their children! :thumbsup:


#2

strawman

strawman

That is fascinating!


#3

PatrThom

PatrThom

Just heard about the "pregnant women with heart problems tend to get better after being pregnant" story about fetal stem cell migration, didn't know it was classed as chimeric.
This is going to make it a lot harder for the future depicted in such things as Gattica* to come to pass.

I have no problem with this.

--Patrick
*Haven't seen it yet, but want to.


#4

Officer_Charon

Officer_Charon

This might help to explain that "healthy glow" that pregnant women seem to have - chimeric cells aiding in tissue repair?


#5

Cheesy1

Cheesy1

I heard about this quite a few years ago while watching the Discovery Channel. One of the common birthmarks of someone who has combined with their twin is a line down the middle of the abdomen, with one side being a different pigmentation than the other (and is especially noticeable in people of multiple ethnicities). Well, I have that birthmark. Half of my abdomen is slightly darker than the other. Since seeing that show my family has joked that the White twin was David after my first name, and the Mexican twin was Andres after my middle name. :p I've never been tested to be sure though, so it's all just rampant speculation.


#6

strawman

strawman

PatrThom said:
Just heard about the "pregnant women with heart problems tend to get better after being pregnant" story about fetal stem cell migration, didn't know it was classed as chimeric.
This is going to make it a lot harder for the future depicted in such things as Gattica* to come to pass.

I have no problem with this.

--Patrick
*Haven't seen it yet, but want to.
Click to expand...
I really, really like Gattica, which is too bad since the kids destroyed my DVD of it years ago. Still have the soundtrack lying around on some harddrive somewhere.


#7

Emrys

Emrys

Cheesy1 said:
I heard about this quite a few years ago while watching the Discovery Channel. One of the common birthmarks of someone who has combined with their twin is a line down the middle of the abdomen, with one side being a different pigmentation than the other (and is especially noticeable in people of multiple ethnicities). Well, I have that birthmark. Half of my abdomen is slightly darker than the other. Since seeing that show my family has joked that the White twin was David after my first name, and the Mexican twin was Andres after my middle name. :p I've never been tested to be sure though, so it's all just rampant speculation.
Click to expand...
Ah, my minion is a mutant. Good, good.


#8

Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

I knew about genetic chimeras, did not know it was more common than I thought though. Fascinating.


#9

Frank

Frank

Shit, they're onto us goat head, what do we do? No, I don't want to wake the lion, he's always mad.


#10

jwhouk

jwhouk

"He"?


#11

Bones

Bones

Tuckerandnina.jpg

EDIT: Just to be clear, I find this all interesting, but as one of the biggest anime nerds I could not help myself by posting this.


#12

drawn_inward

drawn_inward

There reason why it fascinates me is that I currently study genetic variation in regards to autoimmune disease. So, I wonder how different our genome is cell-to-cell and tissue-to-tissue. Can someone have a disease marker due to hitchhiking cells from their offspring?

5 or so years ago it was discovered that bacteria colonies (where the individuals should be "clones") are found to have some differences at the genetic level. So, if bacterial cells can have some differences, it's likely that our own cells should too. But, how much? And, does it do anything?


#13

strawman

strawman

I wonder what it says about autoimmune diseases, and transplants. Could we one day get to the point where no immunosuppressants are necessary after transplant surgery? Is it actually the organ and its genetic code that's being rejected, or is it just the bacterial colony the organ comes with? Given that chimera exist with immediate family genetic differences (mother/child, fraternal twins, etc) then why wouldn't transplants from similar genetic differences always work?


#14

drawn_inward

drawn_inward

stienman said:
I wonder what it says about autoimmune diseases, and transplants. Could we one day get to the point where no immunosuppressants are necessary after transplant surgery? Is it actually the organ and its genetic code that's being rejected, or is it just the bacterial colony the organ comes with? Given that chimera exist with immediate family genetic differences (mother/child, fraternal twins, etc) then why wouldn't transplants from similar genetic differences always work?
Click to expand...
I'm quite certain that it's the organ/tissue that is rejected not necessarily the genetic material, but the genetic material is the basis for the rejection. Biochemistry dogma: DNA -> RNA -> Protein. The protein on the organ surface is where some rejection is caused. It's on the cell surface and the DNA is hidden away in the nucleus of the cell. So our immune system and can "see" the proteins, but not the DNA.

Hopefully, the organs are bacterial free. There shouldn't be bugs growing outside the intestines. There might be transient ones, but not full blown colonies.


#15

PatrThom

PatrThom

I expect that, in the womb, your cells/systems/etc. are all programmed with an idea of "us." Regardless of how many genotypes you are composed of when you are in the womb, your aggregate phenotype gets programmed with "us" at that time, and then all your cells know that "us" cells are family and can be trusted, and "them" cells should be rejected and attacked. If this mechanism could be isolated and understood, I believe transplantation would become a non-issue, although that might ultimately create other problems.

--Patrick


#16

drawn_inward

drawn_inward

PatrThom said:
I expect that, in the womb, your cells/systems/etc. are all programmed with an idea of "us." Regardless of how many genotypes you are composed of when you are in the womb, your aggregate phenotype gets programmed with "us" at that time, and then all your cells know that "us" cells are family and can be trusted, and "them" cells should be rejected and attacked. If this mechanism could be isolated and understood, I believe transplantation would become a non-issue, although that might ultimately create other problems.

--Patrick
Click to expand...
I don't know when the embryonic cellular system get a recognition of self, especially since immunity is such a big issue for newborns. I do know that the mother's body recognizes the embryo as non-self and can abort based on this rejection.

As for transplantation ethics: http://www.amazon.com/Chromosome-6-Robin-Cook/dp/0425161242


#17

Bowielee

Bowielee

Y'know, for a message board about random geek stuff, we have some really intelligent people here.

Just thought I'd point that out.


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