Science is so cool
Today in forensic evidence, we were talking about getting DNA evidence from fingerprints, and our professor brought up chimeras. Now most of you are probably familiar with the mythical chimera or the word in a general sense, but you probably don't all know what a human chimera is- I sure didn't.
You know fraternal twins are caused by the fertilization of two eggs in the uterus, when normally only one is supposed to drop. Well, in very rare instances the two fertilized eggs will then recombine and end up becoming one individual. Only that person will actually have two sets of DNA! In the chimera, all cells in the body will contain both entire sets of DNA, but in some areas of the body one set will be dominant and the other present as a "ghost," and in some parts of the body the roles will be swapped. There is a way to test for this, but a normal DNA test will only turn up the dominant DNA, not the ghosted DNA. In the mosaic, cells all have either one set of DNA or the other, but different parts will have different DNA. For example, the heart cells might have one set of DNA, and the blood cells might have the other set.
Professor- "So, a mosaic might have spots of skin with a different color, because he has two sets of genetic data on skin tone."
Me- "That is totally awesome!"
Also, did you know that fingerprints are only partly determined by genetics, and that they are also partly shaped by the neonatal environment? I am going to try and write my paper on that. :D
You know fraternal twins are caused by the fertilization of two eggs in the uterus, when normally only one is supposed to drop. Well, in very rare instances the two fertilized eggs will then recombine and end up becoming one individual. Only that person will actually have two sets of DNA! In the chimera, all cells in the body will contain both entire sets of DNA, but in some areas of the body one set will be dominant and the other present as a "ghost," and in some parts of the body the roles will be swapped. There is a way to test for this, but a normal DNA test will only turn up the dominant DNA, not the ghosted DNA. In the mosaic, cells all have either one set of DNA or the other, but different parts will have different DNA. For example, the heart cells might have one set of DNA, and the blood cells might have the other set.
Professor- "So, a mosaic might have spots of skin with a different color, because he has two sets of genetic data on skin tone."
Me- "That is totally awesome!"
Also, did you know that fingerprints are only partly determined by genetics, and that they are also partly shaped by the neonatal environment? I am going to try and write my paper on that. :D