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A DNA Mystery
Janae Debeltz
Biology 1010C-23639
The name Chimera originates from Greek mythology; this monster in mythology is three
different animals: part serpent, part goat, and part lion (Rogers, 2014). Chimerism in humans can
occur in various forms, but there are five different types of chimera found in animals and hu-
mans. The five different variations of chimerism include: dispermic, twin chimeras, mi-
ster). Many questions have been asked with the discovery of chimerism and some may have gone
unanswered. Many individuals and researchers throughout history have asked themselves the fol-
lowing questions:
II. What are the similarities and differences between each type of chimerism?
These questions and many more resulted in countless research by scientists to answer questions
Since chimerism is basically the combination of genetics from multiple individuals, it can
be difficult to discover what occurred within the womb of the mother. One of the first known
cases of chimerism according to Carl Zimmer from the New York Times is:
In 1953, for example, a British woman donated a pint of blood. It turned out that
some of her blood was Type O and some was Type A. The scientists who studied her
concluded that she had acquired some of her blood from her twin brother in the womb,
The type that is most like this case would be Twin Chimerism. This type of chimerism is when
two separate zygotes exchange cells or genetic material. Since sharing blood is the result most of
the time scientists discovered this by testing twins and they found it was “…produced when
blood anastomoses (connections) form between the placentas of dizygotic twins, thereby en-
abling the transfer of stem cells between the developing embryos,” (Rogers, 2014). Another form
of chimerism, dispermic chimerism, involves two eggs fertilized by two sperm and they then
fuse together to become a tetragametic individual— someone who originated from four gametes.
According to Vivienne Lam, the fusion of zygotes results in “… an organism that has two dis-
tinct cell lines, and the resulting fetus may be male, female or hermaphroditic…” (2007). Mi-
crochimerism, another type of chimerism, occurs when the placenta is crossed by fetal stem cells
or maternal cells; however, this type of chimerism can also occur after a blood transfusion or an
organ transplant. The last two types of chimerism are parthenogenetic and androgenetic
chimerism and both do not usually occur in humans. Parthenogenetic chimerism happens when a
normal zygote is joined with parthenogenesis generated fertilized egg. According to Brittanica,
“While human parthenogenetic chimeras seem improbable, scientists reported one such case in
1995,” (Rogers, 2014). Since parthenogenetic chimeras cannot be found naturally in mammals
most of the time, researchers and scientists develop these chimeras for studying. Lastly, androge-
netic chimeras are extremely rare and most of the time result in embryonic death for humans and
mammals. Androgenetic chimeras are so rare as a result of the chromosomal development within
the nucleus. These chimeras originate from “…cells that contain the normal combination of ma-
ternal and paternal chromosomes and cells that contain two sets of paternal chromosomes (pater-
nal isodisomy),” (Rogers, 2014). Overall, the formation of chimeras ultimately depends on the
results vary due to the genotypes of the chimerism. Dispermic chimerism results in the eyes hav-
ing different coloration, skin discoloration in patches, and possible hermaphroditism. Like dis-
permic chimerism, twin chimerism has unique phenotypic characteristic; however, most of the
time they shared DNA through blood connections. Microchimeras, one of the most human-relat-
ed types, usually have a phenotype outcome of skin and autoimmune diseases. These diseases
have a considerable and possibly deadly affect on an individual who is a microchimera. Unlike
the previous types of chimerism, parthenogenetic chimerism happens in plants and invertebrates
mostly. Only one case of parthenogenetic chimerism has occurred in 20 years— since 1995. Sim-
ilar to parthenogenetic chimerism, androgenetic chimerism can occur in humans, but is shown
within mammals who have been subjected to experiments. If a human has androgenetic
chimerism the result is most often embryonic death. Mammals, like humans, usually do not sur-
vive to birth and if they do the newborn will end up having severe developmental disorders and
Since chimerism can occur both naturally and experimentally, controversies have devel-
oped from experimental processes. The ethical dilemmas that ensue from the experiments involv-
ing chimeras include: mixing human fetal stem cells and embryonic animals, crossing various
boundaries, and blurred lines with ethical standards. The experimental methods of testing
chimeras are lengthy and include different steps to withdraw human stem cells from the umbili-
cal cord of newly born individuals and implant the human stem cells into animal embryos. The
ethical issues that arise from this process is the idea that researchers are using living human cells
and injecting the DNA into animals. According to some individuals, this crossing of species
boundaries defies the laws of nature; however, to other people these experiments are designed to
help humans in the long run. According to Maryann Mott of National Geographic News, “… Je-
remy Rifkin is opposed to crossing species boundaries, because he believes animals have the
right to exist without being tampered with or crossed with another species,” (2005). The ethical
standards of using stem cells originating from umbilical cords of newborn babies are in question
because the umbilical cord had kept the fetus alive while in the womb and are a part of the moth-
er and child. Overall, the controversies from the experimental operations continue today and will
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http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1826423/chimera
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chimera
DNA Double Take. [Editorial]. (2013, September 16). New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/science/dna-double-take.html?_r=0
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201303/the-you-in-me
http://www.scq.ubc.ca/the-truth-about-chimeras/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0125_050125_chimeras.html