We have searched for life everywhere else in the Milky Way but there does not seem to be life as we know it anywhere else.
That the conditions necessary for life to exist and thrive on earth were so precisely met by everything concerning the position, temperature, size, weight and shape of our earth is what scientists call The Goldilocks of Earth.
And this means that everything is just right. Furthermore, the way in which atoms assembled themselves in such a willing manner to make up the substances and proteins which make up the cells in our body that resulted ultimately, even though for a short while, to a human is not only tenuous, it is unlikely. The smallest variation from this arrangement would not support life. This is the point where I would say, Don't even get me started on the DNA but there is where I want to get started!
Deoxyribonucleic Acid, Transfusion and Birth
Recently, a friend of mine was in an accident and when they checked her phone, I was the last person she had called so the nurse called me again. How cool! I became a de facto emergency contact immediately so I drove down there to see how I could help. Blood. They needed to have blood from the blood bank in order to prepare for an emergency surgery. Okay, does it mean that I have to pay for it or something? No sir, they declared. Blood is not for sale. It was a federal government medical center (if you know, you know :)). Oh, okay so how do we get my friend some pints of blood? (I wonder why beers and blood are both measured in pints). I was informed that I needed to have my blood screened and grouped to see if I could donate, then I should find one other person that could donate too. Oh oh.
I felt healthy enough to give them some of my blood but I hated the process. I like my skin a little too much to be completely okay with someone vandalizing it with needles but what could I do: it was an emergency. It turned out that my hematocrit value was 52%. Did you know that the normal hematocrit value for an adult male is 42 - 54%
So, apparently I could donate two units of blood if I wanted and I did. I felt fine, contrary to everyone's expectation except mine. They did their surgery and my friend was given my blood. After the surgery I went to see her and she was still her usual carefree person. "This people aren't serious," she said. " They just kept filling me up with someone else's blood. Being a science student who knows a thing or two about DNA, I kept expecting her to behave a little like my sullen self but I have been disappointed ever since. So how can she take my DNA and not behave like me a little bit?
DNA and Transfusion
Studies on these matters reveal that the DNA of a donor in a blood transfusion would persist for only a number of days, even though it stays for longer sometimes.
But the presence of the DNA is unlikely to cause any changes in the genetics of the recipient. Furthermore, red blood cells are the primary component of transfusions and they have no nuclei which houses DNA and therefore, they posses no DNA. However, it is also true that transfused blood contain up to 1 billion cells of white blood cells (Stubborn rascals that host DNA-containing white blood cell) when the blood is not filtered to remove white blood cells. Using a process called polymerase chain reaction (PCR), researchers were able to demonstrate that a female trauma patient that received large transfusions showed presence of the donor's white blood cells for up to eighteen months. However, in general, results show that the transfusion receipient's own DNA asserts dominance making the effect of the donor's DNA of no consequence.
But, does a donor's DNA affect the recipient's body during the time it remains in the body?
If you are like me, you would be distastefully sentimental about the idea of another person's blood flowing through your veins. But when you consider the possibility that they may also give you diseases or even their DNA which may cause a permanent modification to your genetic make-up, screwing up the possibility of you remaining you, no one would blame you for becoming a little jittery. I know I would. But relax. In most developed countries, blood used in transfusion usually go through leukoreduction (which removes the DNA-containing leukocytes). Secondly what remains of the leukocytes would generally just stick around in the blood until they die and are replaced by the recipient's cells. So, the DNA contained in the nuclei of the recipients cells where they can make changes to their DNA. One way that transfusions can be harmful, apart from the precautions which are ruled out by testing and screening, is the possibility that it affects the immune system of the patient. This is due to the presence of cytokines and the actions of the donor's white blood cells.
However, (don't you just like the fact that life always presents exceptions?) when a single individual has received so much transfusion products, it is possible to experience a mild modification in their DNA, such that more than one set of DNAs are identifiable in the individual, due to actions of the donor cells. This is called Chimera (pronounced as "ky-mer-a") or microchimera, in this case or in the case of new mothers.
What is Chimera?
If you asked someone from my part of Nigeria what chimera is, the person would not hesitate to replace the last "a" with and "e" and tell you that it is a person's name which means, "God did it". A Greek scholar would tell you about a monster from Greek mythology which breathes fire and is part lion, part goat and part dragon. But if you ask a specialist in the field of genetics, you may learn that it is a medical condition in which an individual has two distinct sets of DNA. This was thought to have been a rare condition but recent studies show that they are not as rare as we thought.
How Chimera Occurs
Need I state that the DNA contains the genetic code which makes each individual unique? Well, a chimera is someone who carries two distinct sets of DNA, that each has a genetic code that can make a completely different person. Apart from possibly having a skin (or fur) pigmentation which divides the body into right and left sides, there could also be slight difference in size between the left and right side and a bunch of autoimmune problems caused by disagreements between the two different DNA sets housed in one body. The occurrence of this condition is called Chimerism.
Two conditions that may result in chimerism have been mentioned namely: repeated and regular transfusion and childbirth. Bone marrow transplant may also result to chimerism but all these are microchimerism which could wear off with time. Tetragametic chimerism, the most rare of all types of chimerism, occurs when two eggs are each fertilized by a separate sperm. At this point, the fertilised eggs fused into a single zygote with two distinct DNA and genetic code. The result is that the child would develop and be born a chimera who may often have eyes with different pigmentation each, patchy skin and two different red blood cells.
As Muphy's law put it, if there is a chance that something would go wrong then it will go wrong. So apart from the above distinctions, some chimeras are born with ambiguous genitalia and it is not difficult to imagine what happened in this cases since tetragametic chimerism literally involves one zygote swallowing the other.
Conclusion
Life is delicate but at the same time surprisingly balanced and stubborn. It is natural to have that icky feeling when conditions require you to receive blood from another individual. While there are risks associated with blood transfusion, most of the risks have been mitigated by advances in medicine and medical technology. The residual risks include immunosuppression due to actions of the donor's white blood cells. However in rare cases, a recipient may have microchimerism due to repeated and regular transfusion. Tetragametic chimerism is a rare form of chimera in which one of two eggs fertilized by two different spermatozoa, swallows the other one and produces an organism with two distinct DNAs. The individual may have patches that divide their body into two halves, may have different eye pigmentation for each eye and may suffer autoimmune challenges due to the warring genes but this can be managed and the individual can live a normal life. Chimerism can occur in other mammals such as mice and cats.
An obvious fallout of this is that DNA identification, which relies heavily on each individual having a unique DNA, would often give misleading result in cases where a bone marrow recipient has some cells containing the DNA of the donor. If the recipient commits a crime, DNA identification would lead to the arrest of the donor while the recipient walks unless there are extenuating circumstances.
References
Scientific America | Donor Blood Transfusion
Wikipedia | DNA
Eurekaalert | Could Blood Transfusion Cause Harm?
Livescience | What is Chimerism? Fused Twin
Wikipedia | Cytokine
EMedicineHealth | What is Haemoglobin?
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I stumble upon the term chimera again and I'm pretty ashamed to not know what it means since it is actually a greek word and I'm from Greece:P. Reading your post fueled research for me :P!
Great job, please keep up the quality work!
Your comment and compliment are both appreciated. There is no shame in not knowing about chimera, Greek or not. A few days before I wrote this post, I had no idea there was anything like chimera either :)
Hi, @churchboy. This was a very interesting read. I never really gave much thought to how a transfusion would affect the DNA, so this was absolutely interesting to learn more about. But it makes a lot of sense that a bone marrow transplant could lead to some genetic issues.
Luckily DNA resulsts are not really allowed to be used as a primary evidence in most countries in the world, at least here in Europe. So the police would in most countries need another type of evidence, and then use the DNA to strengthen the credibility of their theory.
Yes you are absolutely right on the above point. I found the whole thing very interesting. Thank you for the support and for your comment.
Did you know that transfusing blood from the young to the old might actually work? The Italians did it in the Middle Ages, but it was largely discredited by the scientific community after around 1750. But some modern research actually says it could be possible.
I thought it was popular in the Transylvania region....
:)
I hadn't thought about that. But I guess it should work. What's the aim of the transfusion, though?
Oh I forgot to mention that it was meant to slow down aging
I think this is the second time I've heard of chimera. But I never really got down to reading what it means. This is pretty detailed. Though I haven't seen a real life chimera case before. Hopefully I may run into one pretty soon.
Well, I guess that means you are ahead of me in the field of rare medical conditions. I stumbled on the condition while researching why my friend would suffer up to three infections after the surgery she had even though she was healthy and the blood she was transfused was clean. I learned that transfusion could cause suppression of immune system due to the actions of the leukocytes from the donor's blood. That was when I saw chimera and realised it was an actual thing.
I appreciate your support and comment. You write pretty interesting posts yourself!
This is a pretty interesting condition. One would never have guessed that having two sets of DNA could cause autoimmune problems. Perhaps science can discover how to make the two sets cohabit a single body without issues.
Well detailed and explained. Many thanks.
There are so many questions Science haven't answered, so many problems science hasn't solved...yet.
Lets hope this (chimera) is not one of them.
Cheers 🍻 @kaydee
@churchboy, me and you dey beef o. Shebi u know. In fact, na me dey beef you.
Anyways, your post is aptly written as usual. Highly informative! Worth reading
Bros na beer we get. No beef. Your boy has been indisposed.
Yes, I find it interesting too. I read an interesting post here on Steemit where @alexander.alexis wrote how sex is not something that can be classified as an either or.
On the surface, existence looks easy and simple. It turns out that there is a lot going on behind the curtain.
Thank you for your comment.
This post makes me feel that I'm exceedingly lucky to be the way I am with all my imperfections. I hope those battling with this condition would win somehow. To have warring components in one's body can't possibly be easy. I enjoyed reading your post. Steem on.
Yes, you are extremely lucky and so am I. We should count our blessings I guess. I'm glad my post made you think about your blessings. Thanks for dropping by.
Is that the case everywhere? I think that in France it is measured in liters or milliliters... For instance, blood transfusions are usually within the 450-500 ml range, if I am not wrong.
I had actually no idea about what a hematocrit value was. Thanks google ;)
Great post by the way :)
So how many pints make one liter?
This is about 2, no?
Yes, two pints make one litre.
Lol. I also heard about "hematocrit" for the first time today :p
We live and learn :)
Well, they told me that I could donate two pints which amounted to two units of blood which I guess is the 450ml you mentioned. But the only other liquid I have heard associated with a pint was beer. Maybe my vocabulary is poor but that's it :)
I haven't even taken the time to find out exactly what 1 pint is in terms of metric measurement. I guess Google would help
I didn't know hematocrit until the lab attendant told me, "Yours is 52%"
"Huh. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked.
"Good."
Well, Google told me the rest:)
Thanks a lot for visiting my blog. It means a lot to me.
By the way, I found something stupid on your post even though it took a while :)
I am trying to hide one stupidity / unrelated stuff on each post. :)
I think hematocrit has to do with percentage red blood cell in your blood.
Yeah, the volume of red blood cell to the total volume of blood. If i am right though
This is indeed what google tells us :)
Did not check though, my project work during my undergraduate days was based on haematology.
I did ^^
This is a really interesting piece and very educative. Just like you, i would not be very comfortable with another persons blood running through my veins but then, you really did right by donating your blood.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for your comment. Nobody takes blood just for the hell of it.
Balancing iron levels this is one of the health benefits of blood donors.
According to research, many people are able to consume excess food consumed through food. So, to balance the levels of iron in the body, a good way is to donate blood. Having so much iron in the blood can be harmful to the heart. Women can balance iron levels through menstruation. However men, and women after menopause need to balance the levels of iron in their bodies.
Health examination, the mention of health in the donor must penyul. Doctors doctors do doctors do do can can can can can can can. So, that is one of the reasons for 'forcing' self-examination. Through this test, you can find out whether you are healthy or not. In this way, you can also make you aware of the health problems that affect your body.
Reduce the sensation of cancer People who regularly donate blood allow for colon cancer, lung, liver, throat and lung cancer is lower, because the iron content is more balanced.
Controlling blood. This is one of the health benefits of blood donation. When you donate blood, the volume is balanced. This is to prevent adjusting blood. So, a healthy heart for cardiovascular disease.
Reduce cholesterol Human blood cells contain cholesterol. Both good and bad cholesterol, all found in red blood cells. Well, one of the health benefits of donors is to help reduce cholesterol levels.
This is very informative. I had never thought about the benefits of donating blood beyond the humanitarian benefits. Thank you for your comment.
I know a little boy in my village whose friends called the nickname "2 Face" because his face (and of course his whole body) was divided into two halves of slightly varying pigmentation. I wonder if he was battling with autoimmune issues as he proudly answered his nickname.
Nature is indeed very flexible and there doesn't seem to be a limit to the possibilities. Thanks for sharing. Worth reading.
I hope 2Face gets to grow old with his face. I have never seen anyone with the condition or I may have but just did not recognise it for what it was.
Thanks for your comment. The nickname is apt.
Chimerism really sounds like something formed out of a Nigerian name. Are you sure it wasn't discovered by some Igbo dude named Chimere or Chime:)
But seriously when one considers the things that could go wrong in the system of an organism, and how none of them goes wrong for a long long time, you just can't help be grateful for the blessings, seen and unseen.
Now, a question, do you think it is possible to isolate the cells with one type of DNA and gradually extract them from the body until it is only one set of DNA that is left? And if that is possible, what becomes of the blue eye in the case of the chimera cat? Does it gradually turn hazel or it just remains the same? Too many questions, I know.
If they had to fix chimerism, it would be implausible to do it after the organism is grown up. It would be implausible even if you froze time at the exact second of fetrilization and tried to fix it. It simply cannot be fixed using modern technology. But if it were fixed, the eye would slowly turn hazel. The pigment of the eye is similar to the pigment of the skin. So just how your skin gets lighter if you don't go in the sun for a few weeks, the eye would also change color over time (note that these processes would still be somewhat different because one is an environmental change and the other is a genetic change; I was just drawing an analogy).
The analogy could not be improved upon if one tried.
Those are hard questions, my friend and I'm not with my glasses :)
Well, I think this is a pretty new area and a lot of research still needs to be done on it. I doubt we shall ever be able to extract one set of DNA so the blue eye remains with the hazel!
You did a detailed explanation bro.
I've heard about chimerism, though in a rather weird way; the human-animal chimera
That would be some weird stuff. I wonder how the human-animal chimera would fare. Thank you for the support and for taking the time to read through. This is an amazing community. I am feeling the love and I'm appreciative.
This could've been rather dry, but the way you sprinkled subjective and rather funny icky-factor reactions throughout, even going almost sci fi with how another person could become you via a blood transfusion, or going CSI with the crime aspect at the end, gave more life to this topic! 👍
I am pleasantly surprised to find you here. Most of the things you mentioned about the post are styles I learned from you. Now, my secret is out! Thank you for helping a churchboy to spice up his work :)
This is your field so thank you for letting us borrow it.
Hehe! Yeah I kinda got a deja vu moment when I read the part about Murphy's Law, but other than that you kept your secret well under wraps :P
Thanks for making me feel important :D
Thanks a lot. Yeah, I have always liked Murphy's law because it accurately describes how things don't always go as planned especially in engineering and science. So I couldn't agree more when I saw it in your post and then when I was writing mine, it just sort of suggested itself to me.
Thanks for writing back and being so gracious. And oh, you are important.
Chimera sounds like my South-south sisters name😀😀😀.
But in all, I'm glad I learnt some new things, especially the cause of conjoined twins.
Thanks for the insightful article @churchboy.
Dear friend! Next time also use #wafrica and follow @wafrica to get an upvote on your quality posts!
Noted. It isn't too late to do so now, is it :)
Very interesting. Never heard about chimerism. Glad I learned something today.
Thanks for visiting my blog today. I am much obliged.
Quite an interesting piece I must say. Thanks for this post, I read it like I was gonna write exam on it. Such is the level of interest I found in it.
Thanks a lot Bro. I'm glad you could read it. I find it difficult to know when I have done a good job on a post so this feedback is very rewarding. Thank you.
the 'chimera' in igbo had me.
Hahahahaha. Autocorrect kept trying to let me know that Chimere was the correct spelling!
Mehn this post had me stuck to the end. Never ever thought of the possibility of donor DNA self imposing itself in the body of a recipient after blood transfusion. It all makes sense now.
Recombinant DNA technology actually explores chimeric DNAs.
A very interesting read btw.
Thanks a lot Bro. I worry too much so it isn't difficult at all to get me worried that I may start acquiring the features of someone who donated blood to me. But thank Goodness that it doesn't quite happen that way.
It is good seeing you here.
You’re welcome man
Thanks for the enlightenment @churchboy.
Thanks a lot for reading
Like greenrun this is the second time am hearing the word chimera but not in the genetic form, but in the form of a name in Nigeria.
Never knew such phenomenon exist
I was already doubting the chimera cat image like it was done through photoshop, but i think that cleared my doubt.
Just take a look at me🤔, this is definitely not the first time am hearing chimerism, seeing this i remembered freemartinism in animals , most especially in cattle where during pregnancy the blood of two neigbouring foetus mixes and result to a baby with both male and female features, but this more of a reproductive disorder. Guess i need to do a revision on my undergraduate notes because i had to google it to confirm if i was right.
But this was cool, educative and interesting. Thumbs up.
Nice one bro.
Keep steeming.
@tormiwah
I can't believe I missed your wonderful comment. Nature does have its mistakes no matter how little. And it makes us all have more reasons to be grateful.
Thanks a lot for being here and thank you for not taking my silence as snobbish. You're appreciated.
Job well done.. Great write up
But my question is Do they result from fission or fussion
You mean chimera?
Yea
This is wonderful churchboy. The simplicity and the grammar is great.. Am not much of a biologist but the way you explained this is great.
Keep steeming.
Thanks a lot. I appreciate the compliment.
So then I'll take it that you're from the east, lol. Our last born but one had blood transfusion from my father and these two people behaves so much alike I mean so much alike. Now I'll take it as its just normal DNA sequence that occurred during birth and nothing more since this is a very rare situation.
Yes, I'm from the East. I'm sure that your father already passed all the genetic material he needed to pass to her before she was born so it is good that they behave alike. Thanks for the support and for your comment.
Because chimerism usually doesn't cause problems, it's rarely diagnosed, making it hard for scientists to say how prevalent the phenomenon truly is. It's probably less rare than was once thought. Perhaps many of us are chimeras and just don't know it.😀
Thanks for the enlightenment
Thanks a lot. You are right, of course.
You're welcome.. Always
Should I say this scares? Two distinct DNA? Mehn, that's crazy. And there could be possible disagreements? Wow, that's a crazy thing to imagine...|Can we say those handicap people we see on the road with different body part sizes could probably suffer from Chimera?
Nice stuff you pulled out here and for the simplicity, I hail!..Keep steeming Sire
I don't think the difference in the two sides is significant enough to be noticed at first glance so it is not likely that those people have chimera. Remember, it is a case where a twin swallows another one so the difference can't be much since they are twins. Even if they are only fraternal twins, the disagreements would help to ensure that the two individuals in one would meet each other halfway and ensure the lopsidedness won't be noticeable.
I appreciate how you always stop by and for your comments. All the best, man!
Oh, now I get a clearer view. Thanks so much for further explaining
It's a pleasure bro
Is that chimera cat for real or is it an artwork?