“Ancient DNA Reveals Shocking Truths About Our Prehistoric Ancestors—What Secrets Are Hidden in Our Genes?”
Chimeras Can Occur Naturally
Human chimeras don’t only result from bone marrow transplants. For instance, there’s a case of a “vanishing twin,” where one fraternal embryo dies early on. The remaining embryo absorbs the twin’s DNA, resulting in two sets of DNA in the child.
During pregnancy, some women may retain some DNA from their baby. This phenomenon, called microchimerism, occurs in around 63% of women, even those over 94 years old. The New York Times says that microchimerism is “very common, if not universal.”
But Identifying Chimeras Is Very Difficult
To make matters worse, it’s not easy to tell if someone is a chimera. In 2015, parents discovered that their newborn’s blood type and DNA did not match their parents’. They assumed that the clinic had used the wrong sperm.
Stanford geneticist Barry Starr recommended that the couple take a genetics test. Oddly, the test said that the father was the child’s uncle. “Human chimerism is very common, but exquisitely difficult to identify, coming to light almost exclusively by accidents like this,” biologist Charles Boklage told Buzzfeed News.
How This Study Impacted The Future
Chris’s case has changed many peoples’ opinions about DNA tests. Before, DNA tests were considered infallible in the courtroom. But the study suggests that common conditions may make DNA exams less foolproof than we assumed.
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