11/22/2019 3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist - Scientific American

a d ads, to p o de
social media
Access advanced
features and to
analyze our traffic. Futures trading tools

We also share
❯ Cookie Settings ✓ Accept Cookies
information about
your use of our site
with our social
Subscribe
media, advertising
and analytics
partners. Privacy
Policy

B I OLOGY

3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist

Some people—such as fetuses that absorb a dead twin—have two sets of DNA

By Rachael Rettner, LiveScience on August 8, 2016

We use cookies to
personalize content
and ads, to provide

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-human-chimeras-that-already-exist/ 1/8
11/22/2019 3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist - Scientific American

a d ads, to p o de
social media
features and to
analyze our traffic.
We also share
❯ Cookie Settings ✓ Accept Cookies
information about
your use of our site
with our social
media, advertising
and analytics
partners. Privacy
Policy

Credit: GETTY

The Anews
D V E Rthat
TISEMresearchers
ENT want to create human-animal chimeras has generated
controversy recently, and may conjure up ideas about Frankenstein-ish
experiments. But chimeras aren't always man-made—and there are a number of
examples of human chimeras that already exist.

A chimera is essentially a single organism that's made up of cells from two or more
"individuals"—that is, it contains two sets of DNA, with the code to make two
separate organisms.

One way that chimeras can happen naturally in humans is that a fetus can absorb
its twin. This can occur with fraternal twins, if one embryo dies very early in
pregnancy, and some of its cells are "absorbed" by the other twin. The remaining
fetusWe
will have two sets of cells, its own original set, plus the one from its twin.
use cookies to
[Seeing Double:content
personalize 8 Fascinating Facts About Twins]
and ads, to provide

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-human-chimeras-that-already-exist/ 2/8
11/22/2019 3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist - Scientific American

a d ads, to p o de
social media
features and to
analyze our traffic.
We also share
❯ Cookie Settings ✓ Accept Cookies
information about
your use of our site
with our social
media, advertising
and analytics
partners. Privacy
Policy

ADVERTISEMENT

These individuals often don't know they are a chimera. For example, in 2002, news
outlets reported the story of a woman named Karen Keegan, who needed a kidney
transplant and underwent genetic testing along with her family, to see if a family
member could donate one to her. But the tests suggested that genetically, Keegan
could not be the mother of her sons. The mystery was solved when
doctors discovered that Keegan was a chimera—she had a different set of DNA in
her blood cells compared to the other tissues in her body.

A person can also be a chimera if they undergo a bone marrow transplant. During
such transplants, which can be used for example to treat leukemia, a person will
have their own bone marrow destroyed and replaced with bone marrow from
another person. Bone marrow contains stem cells that develop into red blood cells.
This means that a person with a bone marrow transplant will have blood cells, for
the rest of their life, that are genetically identical to those of the donor, and are not
genetically the same as the other cells in their own body.

In some cases, all of the blood cells in a person who received a bone marrow
transplant will match the DNA of their donor. But in other cases, the recipient may
have a mix of both their own blood cells and donor ones, according to a 2004
We use cookies to
review paper incontent
personalize the journal Bone Marrow Transplantation. A blood transfusion will
and ads, to provide

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-human-chimeras-that-already-exist/ 3/8
11/22/2019 3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist - Scientific American

a d ads, to p o de
also social
temporarily
media give a person cells from someone else, but in a bone marrow
transplant,
featuresthe
andnew
to blood cells are permanent, according to the Tech Museum of
analyze in
Innovation ourSan
traffic.
Jose, California.
We also share
❯ Cookie Settings ✓ Accept Cookies
information about
Moreyourcommonly,
use of ourpeople
site may exhibit so-called microchimerism—when a small
fraction
with of
ourtheir cells are from someone else. This can happen when a woman
social
media,
becomes advertising
pregnant, and a small number of cells from the fetus migrate into her
and analytics
blood and travel to different organs.
partners. Privacy
Policy
A 2015 study suggested that this happens in almost all pregnant women, at least
temporarily. The researchers tested tissue samples from the kidneys, livers,
spleens, lungs, hearts, and brains of 26 women who tragically died while pregnant
or within one month of giving birth. The study found that the women had fetal cells
in all of these tissues. The researchers knew that the cells were from the fetus, and
not from the mother, because the cells contained a Y chromosome (found only in
males) and the women had all been carrying sons.

ADVERTISEMENT

In some cases, fetal cells may stay in a woman's body for years. In a 2012 study,
researchers analyzed the brains of 59 women ages 32 to 101, after they had died.
They found 63 percent of these women had traces of male DNA from fetal cells in
We use cookies to
personalize content
and ads, to provide

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-human-chimeras-that-already-exist/ 4/8
11/22/2019 3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist - Scientific American

a d ads, to p o de
theirsocial
brains. The oldest woman to have fetal cells in her brain was 94 years old,
media
suggesting
featuresthat
andthese
to cells can sometimes stay in the body for a lifetime.
analyze our traffic.
We also share
The 9 Most Interesting ❯ Cookie Settings
Transplants ✓ Accept Cookies
information about
your use
Inside LifeofScience:
our site Once Upon a Stem Cell
with our social
11media,
Body advertising
Parts Grown in the Lab
and analytics
partners. Privacy
Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material
Policy
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Rachael Rettner

Recent Articles
"Flesh Eating" Bacteria May Be Spreading to Beaches Once Thought Off-Limits

Hundreds of Dietary Supplements Are Tainted with Prescription Drugs

When Do Puppies Hit "Peak Cuteness" to Humans?

LiveScience

Recent Articles
Is the Universe a Giant Loop?
We use cookies to
personalize
Contaminant content
That May Be Causing the Mysterious Vaping-Related Illnesses Found
and ads, to provide

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-human-chimeras-that-already-exist/ 5/8
11/22/2019 3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist - Scientific American

a d ads, to p o de
Spacesocial media
Dust from Ancient Supernova Found Hiding in Antarctica
features and to
analyze our traffic.
We also share
❯ Cookie Settings ✓ Accept Cookies
information about
your use of our site
with our social
media, advertising
READ THIS NEXT
and analytics
partners. Privacy
Policy
SPONSORED CONTENT

Self-driving cars to test city limits

October 31, 2019

COMPUTING

Bots Outperform Humans If They Impersonate Us

November 21, 2019 — Christopher Intagliata

P U B L I C H E A LT H

Air Pollution: An Unclear and Present Danger

2 hours ago — Steve Mirsky

C L I M AT E

Urban Heat Islands Mean Warming Will Be Worse in Cities

5 hours ago — Chelsea Harvey and E&E News

BEHAVIOR & SOCIETY

What Makes a Song? It's the Same Recipe in Every Culture

5 hours ago — Jim Daley

POLICY & ETHICS

Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2019

6 hours ago

We use cookies to
personalize content
and ads, to provide NEWSLETTER

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-human-chimeras-that-already-exist/ 6/8
11/22/2019 3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist - Scientific American

a d ads, to p o de
Get smart. Sign up for our email
social media
features and to
analyze our traffic.newsletter.
We also share
❯ Cookie Settings ✓ Accept Cookies
information about
Sign Up
your use of our site
with our social
media, advertising
and analytics
partners. Privacy
Policy

Expertise. Insights. Illumination.

Subscribe Now!

FOLLOW US

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN ARABIC

‫اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬

Store FAQs

About Contact Us

Press Room Site Map

Advertise Privacy Policy

SA Custom Media Use of Cookies

We use cookies to
personalize content
Terms of Use International Editions
and ads, to provide

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-human-chimeras-that-already-exist/ 7/8
11/22/2019 3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist - Scientific American

a d ads, to p o de
Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications
social
(many media
of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial
features and to independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.
analyze our traffic.
We also share
© 201 9 SCI E NTI FI C A M ER I CA N, ❯A DIVISIO
CookieNSettings Accept
OF SP RINGER NA TU RE ✓Cookies
A MERICA, INC.
information about
your use of our site
A LL RIGHTS RESER VE D.
with our social
media, advertising
and analytics
partners. Privacy
Policy

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-human-chimeras-that-already-exist/ 8/8