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Hello I Must Be Going: The Vanishing Twin
They walk among us. By the mid nineties, science had only smoked out a few dozen of them worldwide but there are undoubtedly many more. You may well know some of them. You may even be one yourself. Perhaps you're sometimes haunted by the sense that there is someone lurking very near, invisible and silent but sharing that odd thought, impression, or fear from time to time. A more solid clue might be found in the skin on your back. Sometimes you can see this plainly though they say it's usually only discernable under UV light. I'm talking about what might be looked upon as the most extreme form of Siamese or conjoined twinning, one in which both bodies have merged completely into a single individual. Scientists call the perplexing result a chimera, after the mythological beast described by Homer and others that sported the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the rear of a dragon or snake. What happens is that you have two fertilized egg cells that converge very early in the gestation process. If the cells were identical twins there would probably be no way to identify such two-in-one individuals and the world may well be full of them. But if they're fraternal, things can get more interesting. If the two are of opposite sex you can end up with a true hermaphrodite, though this seems to be exceedingly rare. In January of 1998 doctors in Scotland reported the birth of a child, originally conceived through in vitro fertilization, who ultimately tested out to present both female (XX) and male (XY) chromosomes and corresponding equal-opportunity genitalia. Most of the time the consequences are much more subtle. In 1953 an English woman named Patricia McDonnell underwent some routine tests when she became pregnant and discovered she carried both Type O and Type A blood in a ratio of about 13 to 1. After considerable study her doctors concluded that the minority Type A was her own and the Type O was what was left of her twin brother. Sometimes a chimera will have a left and right eye of different colors (like Jane Seymour and Joe Pesci... hmm, do ya think?), while others - as alluded to in the first paragraph - may display marbling or streaking patterns on their backs, called Blaschko's lines, which suggest an imperfect blend of two differing complexions. Researchers call the latter individuals mosaics. They're intrigued with the phenomenon because they suspect certain afflictions may arise from it such as cancer, Alzheimer's, and autism. (Indeed, Susan Folstein of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston reports that about one in ten autistics show Blaschko's lines. The inference is that there is an antagonistic mingling of chimeric brain cells that have trouble communicating with each other.) Beyond all of this, surgeons and researchers can and do intentionally create interspecific chimeras, where they combine tissues from different animal species. Considering that about five hundred prospective transplant patients die in the U.S. every month waiting for human donors, this can obviously be a very good thing. Pig and cow heart valve transplants are already quite common. Here are two links at least tangentially related to chimeras.This one deals with a rather eerie, way-out aspect in a book by Bill Chalker; while this one explores purported interspecific hybrids involving domestic cats. This article comes from the Curious Thing of the Week section of my site Sui Generis at http://www.CuriousNotions.com where you'll find only the world's rarest, best, oddest and most legendary. If you crave the exotic and march to your own drummer, please stop by!
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news News Corp exec becomes chief of Germany's Premiere (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp's chief financial officer for Europe and Asia has been named chief executive of German pay television group Premiere, following the resignation of Michael Boernicke, Premiere said on Wednesday. News Corporation to redevelop London Wapping site (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is to redevelop its Wapping site in London, moving all its UK businesses, including News International, Harper Collins, MySpace and Dow Jones, under one roof. UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News (UPI) Chesney nominated for 7 CMAs ... Hoffman: I'm not playing Penguin ... 'RocknRolla' No. 1 at U.K. box office ... Jessica Simpson stops song on 'GMA' ... News from United Press International. DailyMe: News tailored to your individual tastes (The Christian Science Monitor) Column: Custom news websites come and go, but this one gets it right. Get the latest news in racing (Daily Racing Form) In order to read Daily Racing Form's free daily news stories it is required that you have a DRF.com free membership. If you do not have a DRF.com free membership, please register here . You will NOT need to be logged in to read each day's free news stories. Sarah Palin docu wins record ratings for Fox News (Reuters via Yahoo! News) In a week of records surrounding the Republican National Convention, Fox News Channel earned another one with its weekend documentary on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. MySpace ad business ahead of target: News Corp (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp's (NWSa.N) MySpace advertising business is operating ahead of expectations and its digital ad business is performing better than the marketplace, the company's chief operating officer said on Tuesday. UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News (UPI) Peabody Hotel in Memphis declares amnesty ? Night at Hearst Castle up for grabs ? Mother: 6-year-old got stuck in washer ? Couple may keep home thanks to rare coin ? UPI Quirks in the News. UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News (UPI) Mars Lander set to run last of experiments ? Protein found to suppress skin cancer ? NASA: Gamma-ray burst was aimed at Earth ? Study: Continuous blood sugar monitor best ... Health/Science news from UPI. OREGON NEWS (The Oregonian) TWITTER Headlines delivered to your PC or PDA as soon as they're updated. SPEAK UP! Talk about the latest news. Site: news - Google News CNET News Daily Podcast: Say hello to the Palm Pre - CNET News
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for humanities Arts and Humanities Prizewinners Announced by Heinz Foundation (New York Times) The visual artist Ann Hamilton is the recipient of the 14th annual Heinz Award for the Arts and Humanities. Maryland Humanities Council meeting in mountains (Cumberland Times-News) For the past two years, Catherine Gira, who retired in June 2006 as president of Frostburg State University, has served as chairwoman of the Maryland Humanities Council. 5:15 p.m. - First Y Tinaotao 5K run to benefit Guam Humanities Council (Pacific Daily News) 5:15 p.m., Sept. 10 ? The Guam Humanities Council presents the First Annual Y Tinaotao 5 K Run, Saturday, Sept. 27. The historically themed run will kick off at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Agana Cathedral-Basilica, circle past Ninth Street in Anigua, and end at the Skinner Plaza in Hagatna. Council obtains a grant to study Chamorro language (Saipan Tribune) The NMI Council for the Humanities has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for a three-year collaborative project to study and help preserve the Chamorro language. Educators in row over English post (The Australian) THE Australian Academy of Humanities yesterday accused the National Curriculum Board of selecting the wrong man in its appointment of a literacy researcher to oversee a uniform school curriculum in English. 14th Heinz Award recipients are announced (Moldova.org) The Heinz Family Foundation says five Americans have been selected to receive a $250,000 award in the memory of the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz, R-Pa.The 14th annual Heinz Award recipients and their categories are:--Technology, Economy and Employment: Associate Professor Joseph DeRisi of the University of California-San Francisco, a noted researcher in molecular genomics.-- Arts and Humanities: ... Scholar to speak on ?Mockingbird' (The Brewton Standard) Alabama Humanities Foundation Road Scholar Nancy Anderson will present ?To Kill a Mockingbird: Successes and Myths? on Sept. 23, at 10 a.m. in the Atmore Public Library meeting room. The East Bay Today: September 10, 2008 (East Bay Express) Brainiac: Learn something new every day. Today's lecture: The Wire: The Audacity of Despair . The Townsend Center for the Humanities presents a lecture by David Simon, a Baltimore-based author, journalist, and writer-producer of television who is the creator, executive producer, and head writer of the critically acclaimed original HBO series The Wire . At the Maude Fife Room in Wheeler Hall. ETC.: Crayton named to BSU dean?s list (Marion Chronicle-Tribune) Christopher G. Crayton, Marion, has been named to the dean?s list of the College of Sciences and Humanities at Ball State University for the summer 2008 session. Awards presented to CDTV staff member and UM-Dearborn intern 09/10/08 (Dearborn Press & Guide) DEARBORN - Nick Wisniske, a member of the staff of city of Dearborn Television (CDTV), was recently named 2008 Spring/ Summer Mentor of the Year by the University of Michigan-Dearborn's Department of Humanities in the College of Arts, Sciences & Letters for his supervision of the educational experience of a student interning at CDTV. Site: humanities - Google News Habitat for Humanity's ReStore site of food drive - West Fargo Pioneer
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