Chimeras, Mosaics, and Other Fun Stuff | Other Fun Stuff | Twins
Chimeras, Mosaics, and Other Fun StuffNov 12, 2009: I recently read about a case where a person had both a pair of X chromosomes and an X and a Y chromosome. How does that happen? Apr 23, 2009: How is a paternity test affected if the child is a chimera? Sep 27, 2007: Your article on chimeras had me enthralled, but could you please explain more in depth how it is possible for 2 zygotes to fuse and actually what should have been two people ends up as one? Shouldn't this be impossible? Jun 20, 2007: Why can't mules breed? I understand that a horse and a donkey make a mule but why can't 2 mules have a baby mule? May 18, 2007: I read the posting on how it is possible for 2 non-tongue rolling parents to have a child that can roll his tongue. Prior to reading your web site posting, I stumbled across an article in the April '07 edition of Men's Health. The article was discussing Paternal Discrepancy and stated that one of the tale-tell signs was tongue rolling.
I immediately started wondering about my own child. I have no other reason to doubt that I am not his biological father. Neither my wife nor I can roll our tongues, yet my child can. Most of my child's other genetic traits are the same as mine, and my wife shares a lot of those as well, i.e. Blonde hair, blue eyes, etc...
The article in Men's Health said that 4% of fathers in the U.S. are unknowingly raising a child that is not theirs. I have not mentioned this to my wife, but it is keeping me up at night. Should I pay $100 for a paternity DNA test, or should I just not worry with it at all? Feb 09, 2007: I recently read Natalie Dye's response to a question about chimera DNA. As A Crime Scene Investigator and instructor this piqued my interest and has me wondering about DNA as it relates to bone marrow transplants. Would a person who receives a bone marrow transplant essentially now have two potential sources of DNA, the original pre-existing in the body's cells and now another from the donor cells of the bone marrow? Sep 15, 2006: I was wondering how it is possible that I ended up with one ear lobe clearly attached, and the other clearly unattached. I have read all about the dominant gene process etc., but it never seems to address how you end up with one of each.
This was first noticed when I got my ears pierced at age 5, in 1978. The lady who pierced my ears was one of the only people in the area who did ear piercing, and therefore had seen many ear lobes before mine, but she had never seen one attached, and one loose or unattached. She was very surprised, and I have always wondered about it, since to this day I have never met anyone else with two different ear lobes, at least not that I noticed. Apr 28, 2006: What does chimera DNA look like? Are chimeras and mosaics the same thing? And are there any changes in chimera DNA? Mar 03, 2006: I was wondering if you could make a baby with 3 eyes. Is that possible? Nov 30, 2004: 1) On the CSI episode about the chimera, there was a disease mentioned (or shown) that began with a B. Do you know what that is? And why were there swirled patterns on the suspect's back when the special glasses were put on?
2) In the chimera episode, the fact that the guy was a chimera was first established through a camera flash on the skin illuminating skin anomalies (potentially through radiation??). Why is this the case? Presumably the bone marrow donor would not have been subject to radiation? Sep 16, 2004: When I was a camp counselor a few years back, one of the campers had light hair and a green eye with lighter eyelashes/eyebrows on one side and darker hair and a brown eye with darker eyelashes/eyebrows on the other. Also the lighter side had more freckles. The hair on her head was not bi-colored exactly symmetrically, but pretty close. How is this physiologically possible? I've never stopped wondering and the girl said that doctors couldn't explain it. Jun 25, 2004: I read from an article that many bony fish which include Nemo, the clownfish, change sex throughout their life-spans. How does changing sex impact their DNA? Were they born with both X and Y chromosomes or somehow they were changed when the sex was changed? Jun 08, 2004: The other night on CSI they used a medical term (I think it started with a C) for a person that had two different DNA's. Have you ever heard of this? Other Fun StuffMar 12, 2009: I saw a clip on AOL Amazing Births that I believe to be next to impossible. The photo was of a couple in England that has had two sets of twin girls. The mother is a fair haired redhead. The father is a black man. The oldest girls look to be about 7 years old, one is a fair skinned redhead, and the other is a black girl. The second set of twins again has one fair skinned redhead and one black child. What is your opinion of the possibility of this happening, and if it is possible, what would be the chance? Feb 05, 2009: How are two headed snakes possible? Oct 16, 2008: I just visited your exhibit on putting pig hearts into people. Why would we want to do that and what does this have to do with genetics? How could pig hearts make a person sick? Nov 08, 2007: Why do people sneeze when they look into the sun? TwinsDec 19, 2008: What if the DNA evidence left at a murder is from an identical twin? Can scientists tell which twin killed the person? Mar 06, 2008: I have identical twin boys. Both wear glasses for severe farsightedness, one has been found to have astigmatism. What are the chances that his brother will also have one? I understand from your information that their genetics are the same but would this be included? Feb 02, 2007: I have two identical twin male cousins, let's call them Cousin A and Cousin B. Cousin A is able to have children but Cousin B is not. If Cousin A was to donate sperm to Cousin B's wife, would the child share the same DNA as Cousin B? Would the child have some of the same traits as Cousin B (such as hair, eyes, and height)? Would a paternity test be able to distinguish if Cousin A or Cousin B is the father? Oct 13, 2006: It seems to me that there are a lot more twins around these days. Is this true? Do scientists know why this is? Sep 16, 2005: Why do identical twins have physical differences if they have the same DNA? Jan 26, 2005: My father is an identical twin and my husband's grandfather is a fraternal twin. Does this increase our chances of having twins, or is the genetic trait only on the mother's side and only for fraternal twins? (P.S. we've always hoped for twins - a boy and a girl.) Nov 10, 2004: My students want to know: if identical twins have the same DNA, what happens if one of them commits a crime and leaves only DNA evidence at the crime scene; like a hair or something? How could you tell which twin did it?
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