Chimera

Do you know who is Lydia Fairchild?

In 2002, after applying for government assistance in the state of Washington and she had two children. A DNA test was done to confirm the same but surprisingly the DNA did not match!

Of course that was not surprising! And though it’s mysterious it is not the script for a soap Opera!

Lydia knew that she was the mother! But the state accused Fairchild of fraud and filed a lawsuit against her!
Now she had to prove that she was the mother of her children but even repeated DNA tests proved her wrong!

Enter CHIMERA!

Chimera is a fire-breathing she-monster in Greek mythology having a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail! But that is history!

Also No! That is not the name of an fancy lawyer who can win any case! But a condition!

So when Lydia Fairchild was told that her two children were not a ‘genetic’ match with her and that therefore, biologically, she could not be their mother.
She accepted and went through the whole situation scientifically!

Further research later determined that the genetic mismatch was due to in fact due to chimerism, a condition in which two genetically distinct cell lines are present in one body!

A cervical swab eventually revealed Fairchild’s second distinct cell line, showing that she had not genetically matched her children because she was a chimera. Fairchild’s case was one of the first public accounts of chimerism and has been used as an example in subsequent discussions about the validity and reliability of DNA evidence in legal proceedings within the United States!

Human chimerism occurs when an individual possesses two distinct sets of DNA within their body, often due to prenatal events or medical interventions. Examples of human chimerism include individuals who were part of fraternal twin pregnancies where one embryo died early on, and the surviving twin absorbed some of the deceased twin’s cells. Additionally, individuals who have undergone bone marrow transplants are also considered chimeras, as their blood cells will have the donor’s DNA, while other tissues retain the recipient’s DNA!

In nature though genetic chimerism or chimera is a single organism composed of cells with more than one distinct genotype. In other words; an individual with two types of DNA!

Animal chimeras are produced by the merger of two 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. In contrast, an individual where each cell contains genetic material from two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera is called a hybrid! In this case though the being would have only one DNA or genomic sequence.

This is important since DNA analysis of the crime scene is an important investigating tool now!
Just when you thought that DNA evidence is the Gold Standard, there comes the fire breathing dragon CHIMERA! Then again exceptions are not examples! If the video and audio and the DNA evidence also says that you are the criminal then crying CHIMERA may not help you always!

Of course many times you do not need any DNA test to know whether one is your offspring or not! Like you know Shahid Kapur has the acting DNA of Pankaj Kapur!


Now don’t think about any Chimeric stuff and sleep!

Shubh ratri!