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Genetic Chimerism In Fiction
Human Chimera (genetics), genetic chimerism, which can not only cause a wide range of illnesses but also lead to the same person having more than one profile in genetic fingerprinting, has served as a plot device in many works of fiction. Most known examples are subsequent to the 2004 book ''Free Culture (book), Free Culture'', where author Lawrence Lessig digresses briefly to describe chimerism and suggest that it could, and had yet to, be well used as a television plot device (particularly for police procedurals involving genetic fingerprinting). * In Kathy Reichs' novel ''Spider Bones'', after an incorrect identification of a deceased Vietnam soldier, Dr. Brennan discovers that his mother was a chimera, explaining why their DNA did not match. * The ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' episode "Bloodlines (CSI episode), Bloodlines" involves a man who rapes a woman and is identified by her, but the DNA from his semen doesn't match to the DNA from his saliva because he is a chimera. * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chimera (genetics)
A genetic chimerism or chimera ( ) is a single organism composed of cells with more than one distinct genotype. In animals, this means an individual derived from two or more zygotes, which can include possessing blood cells of different blood types, subtle variations in form (phenotype) and, if the zygotes were of differing sexes, then even the possession of both female and male sex organs. Animal chimeras are produced by the merger of two (or more) embryos. In plant chimeras, however, the distinct types of tissue may originate from the same zygote, and the difference is often due to mutation during ordinary cell division. Normally, genetic chimerism is not visible on casual inspection; however, it has been detected in the course of proving parentage. Another way that chimerism can occur in animals is by organ transplantation, giving one individual tissues that developed from a different genome. For example, transplantation of bone marrow often determines the recipient's en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
