My assumption is that over time the organ regenerates new cells with the host’s DNA. Or do the two stay distinct for life, or do they merge into a mix of the two? If they stay separate, is there a definite boundary, and does the host’s future offspring bear the DNA of three bloodlines instead of two?
In: Biology
Others have already answered the question (the donor organ keeps its own DNA), but I wanted to add a little something:
There’s a condition known as genetic chimerism, it occurs when a mother has twins in the womb but, early in development, the cells of one twin engulf the other.
This leads to a single child with genetic information from two people.
In some cases this leads to random sections and splotches of your twins DNA around your body, other times it can lead to specific organs belonging to your twin.
There was a case a while back of a woman who failed a maternity test for her own children because the DNA of most of her body and the DNA of her ovaries differed; in essense, her twin had acted as an ovum donor.
More commonly, you’ll see people with patches of different coloured hair or things like Heterochromia, where each eye is a different color.
I was told I was a chimera earlier in my life, while most of my hair is dark brown, about a third is fire-engine red, I have Darwin’s Tubercle on one side and not the other, I had a bunch of complications at birth due to a hernia resulting from the two sets of skin not correctly fusing and a DNA scrape of the inside of my mouth doesn’t match the DNA of a blood test.
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