Chimera: A Genetic Phenomenon

Paper Summary:

In Greek mythology, the chimera was a creature with the body and head of a lion, the second head of a goat, and a serpentine tail. This peculiar animal of legend is the perfect symbolic reference for its dual meaning in genetics. Chimeras are not a figment of the Greek imagination anymore. Today, although still seemingly a work of fiction, chimeras are characterized as individuals born with two different sets of DNA. This paper details the cause of this strange and fascinating phenomenon and examines how people born as chimeras are affected.

From the Paper:

"Another fear in the discovery of chimeras is the concept of genetic engineering. If two embryos can be fused together to generate a totally new embryo, what is to stop scientists from manipulating the embryos into forming whatever kind of individual they want? Also, if fusing two embryos together and then splitting them up can create identical twins that are essentially natural clones, what is to stop scientists from using chimeras to aid in the process of human cloning? Scientists have already managed to generate man-made chimeras in a laboratory using the embryos of mice. It is only a matter of time before they unlock the delicate procedure that produces human chimeras."

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