the many yous in you – the mom and the sponge

Lydia Fairchild was confused. She had applied for state benefits to look after her three children, but according to DNA tests, she was not their mother. It was ridiculous – she knew full well that the children were hers, but she was being taken to court nonetheless.

via blogs.discovermagazine.com

The reason for this turned out to be that Lydia is a chimera, a person with the genetic material of 2 fused eggs. The genes in her hair and the genes from her cervix aren't the same, one being a match for her kids and the other not. For the full explanation and how it relates to sponges, see the link above. Can you imagine the murder mystery?

Filed under: Miscellany