Skip to main content

Lessons from Chimeras

The chimera marmoset story reported linkurl:here;https://www.the-scientist.com/news/home/53033/ and elsewhere is fascinating; I was stunned by the possibility, not heavily noted in a lot of press, that male cells might have made it into the germline of a female - that is XY cells from a male might have developed into eggs in his female twin sister resulting in a live birth. Germline transmission of one's brothers cells is interesting enough, but the idea of XY eggs is particularly interesting --

Written byBrendan Maher
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
The chimera marmoset story reported linkurl:here;https://www.the-scientist.com/news/home/53033/ and elsewhere is fascinating; I was stunned by the possibility, not heavily noted in a lot of press, that male cells might have made it into the germline of a female - that is XY cells from a male might have developed into eggs in his female twin sister resulting in a live birth. Germline transmission of one's brothers cells is interesting enough, but the idea of XY eggs is particularly interesting -- not just for the fact that a female had her brother's baby without all that messy incest. Another interesting chimera story, this one in humans, linkurl:was noted in the media;https://www.nature.com/news/2007/070326/full/070326-1.html;jsessionid=AE244B09CB3C69822F0B1B3B2DF74872 earlier this week. In a unique event researchers ascertained that a pair of twins, one phenotypically male and one hermaphroditic with ambiguous genitalia, were both actually XX/XY chimeras of each other. The twins developed, DNA analysis suggests, from a single egg fertilized by two sperm. linkurl:See the paper here.;https://www.springerlink.com/content/m5q6420770g60643/ And unlike in most observed human chimeras the mixed cells appear in several populations In addition to some of the philosophical quandaries such events raise about the definition of self from a genetic standpoint (Carl Zimmer did a nice job with this in the linkurl:__Times__;https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/science/27marm.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Tuesday), both studies speak to crucial developmental strictures even if they are simply rare or unique cases. The marmosets suggest that it might not be so difficult for a male germ cell to develop into a functional egg exposing a bit more about natural linkurl:stem cell;https://www.the-scientist.com/news/home/53034/ plasticity, and the human story may shed light on the 'default' developmental program of sex, which has generally been assumed to be female (although that tide has been turning).
Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member?
Add The Scientist as a preferred source on Google

Add The Scientist as a preferred Google source to see more of our trusted coverage.

Meet the Author

Related articles background image
August 2026 Digest cover
August 2026

Epic Fail: Sea-Monkeys Sabotage Fieldwork

When Barry Hicks set out to photograph thrombolites, thousands of unexpected visitors photobombed his underwater images.

View this Issue
Improving rAAV Production for Viral Vector Manufacturing

Improving rAAV Production for Viral Vector Manufacturing

cytiva logo
Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Miltenyi
Scientist holding a clear 384-well PCR microplate in a laboratory

What Dictates PCR Success Before Amplification Begins?

Integra Logo
Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Axion Biosystems

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches European Newsletter Campaign with Exclusive Welcome Gifts

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches SuperNuclease ® Pro with Free Trial Program

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches Precisely Characterized Full-Length p-Tau217 Protein to Advance Next-Generation Alzheimer’s Biomarker Assay Development

A photo of a scientist placing the Resipher device on a 96-well plate.

Resipher: Continuous Live-Cell Mitochondrial Respiration Monitoring in 96-Well Plates

Lucid Scientific logo