Monday 20 May 2013

Sunshine & Selfies in the Park / Chimera


Yesterday afternoon was so beautiful, I couldn't miss the opportunity to take some photos. Unfortunately, I spent the whole day all alone and had no one to take photos of me. So I ventured out into a public park with my bike, camera, tripod and self-timer and tried to ignore/avoid making contact with all the dog-walkers and teenagers who wandered by my little shoot. Pretty scary stuff if you're a little bit shy and self-conscious when it comes to strangers. But it was well worth the mild embarrassment because I got some really nice photos out of it (seriously, my new EOS 60Dwith thislens is soooooooooooo good. I can't recommend it enough).
dress - Thrifted
hat - Hat Stall in Japan
shoes - Asos
necklace - Claire's (Japan)
tights - c/o Oasap

A reader brought up genetic chimeras the other day, something that I find really fascinating, so I'm going to talk about that today!

So, the DNA in each and every one of your cells is totally identical (apart from germ cells - that's sperm and egg cells). What makes a brain cell different to a skin cell is the genes that cell chooses to express and the proteins they subsequently make. However, if you're a chimera, it means that you have parts of you which are technically from a different being - so a certain organ, or your arms, or some of your blood cells have different DNA in them to the rest of your body.

A way in which a chimera can form is when fertilisation occurs between two separate sperm and two separate eggs. This would normally lead to dizygotic (non-identical) twins, but sometimes the two can fuse together. So basically, chimeras are formed when one twin EATS the other twin (in a way. Kind of not really. It just sounded dramatic). Then, as the organism develops into a fish, cat or even a human, different parts of them are technically formed from two different people.
(Image source)
Yes, you heard me right, it does happen in humans, and has often only been discovered when a genetic test is done between a mother and child, who that mother knows she has given birth to, but the DNA says that it's not her own child - leading to a whole bunch of fun lawsuits (read more here!) Chimeras often wouldn't show such distinctive markings as this horse above though - this would only happen if the different sets of DNA are expressed in the skin cells (although it does happen!)

Anyway, I hope that you learnt something new today ;)







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36 comments:

  1. I read about chimeras in one of the more recent Kathy Reichs books, it was fascinating stuff

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  2. I love your necklace! :)

    xoxo,
    Rae
    http://raellarina.blogspot.com/

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  3. Chimera post, excellent; also, excellent clothing. There are even more little trains of thought that brought me to chimeras and away from it, like Mount Chimaera and other natural phenomenon like The Door to Hell. It's really fortunate the internet exists or I would have a hard time getting from one to the other. The whole lawsuit related chimera stuff astounded me when I first learned of some, lawsuits being almost more insane than having two sets of DNA in one organism.

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  4. Gorgeous, I'm really loving the various shades of brown/cream, especially in that lovely sunlight. Good on you for being brave and taking photos outside by yourself, I'd love to be able to do that!

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  5. I'm addicted to polka dots *_*

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  6. the photos look so good and I hope that you can do more shooting outside!

    toinfinitynbeyond13.blogspot.hk

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  7. That outfit is gorgeous! Love it :D also really cool fact!x

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  8. That is such a lovely dress! And I'm loving that hat :)
    -Tori
    Fashion, Trends & More

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  9. haha, i love what you wrote about self-taking pictures. i do this a lot, and it is always awkward when the runners or little kids pass by! but, at least for me, i always think "welp, i will never really see them again"! and i love that hat, by the way!

    lindsey louise

    hellomrrabbitblog.com

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  10. I love these photos! The colours in your outfit are lovely, and your hair is AMAZING xx

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  11. Wow, your dress is pretty! Also, isn't people being chimeras the reason for heterochromia?

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    Replies
    1. I think it's one of the reasons, yeah!

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    2. Although it's only a rare reason why heterochromia can exist I think. A lot of it is caused by other genetic conditions.

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    3. Awesome :) I did work experience in a genetics lab and the scientist I was working with had created mouse chimeras. I vaguely remembered her saying something about heterochromia.

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    4. Yeah! You're right. Mouse chimeras are created when a geneticist wants to make a model organism of a disease. When they want to make a transgenic mouse (a knock-out or knock-in of a particular gene), they make the fur of the mouse act like a marker which can easily tell them which mice have the modified or mutant gene, and which don't. I.e. brown mice won't have the modified gene, but white mice will. At one point in the process, you end up creating chimeras which are brown and white (made by modified embryonic stem cells from the white mouse, put inside of a blastocyst taken from a brown mouse). The chimerism shows that they have some of the modified genes and hence can pass them on, and voila heterochromia :)

      Also, that's so cool that you did work experience in a genetics lab!

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  12. I love your hair here! Suits you so well!

    That's really interesting about the chimera stuff you wrote there. I'll definitely read up on it now!

    www.annettibus.blogspot.ie

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  13. Such pretty lighting in these :) Your blog is so unique! Love it so much.

    xo Ashley
    thetiniestfirecracker.com

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  14. Love that outfit, what a great find that dress is! I remember learning about Chimeric DNA in genetics-cool stuff! What I wonder about is why they don't use mitochondrial DNA for maternity testing? Does chimerism affect mtDNA? Ok I'm off to look that up now! Your blog always gives me such a good dose of science minded stimulation!

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    Replies
    1. Hmm, very good question! I actually think that your mitochondrial DNA is also the same as your aunty's as well? And if you have a sister, your mitochondrial DNA would be the same I thiiiink. That's why it's used to trace maternal ancestral lineage. So if you swallowed up your dizygotic twin in the womb, both cells have the same mitochondrial DNA anyway... and they couldn't use it in a maternal DNA test because you share mitochondrial DNA with too many relatives. I think that's the case anyway... please correct me if I'm wrong!

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  15. Beautiful look. Love the tights.
    http://www.handbagmadness.com

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  16. This outfit is gorgeous. You look like the epitome of summer (though I know it technically isn't summer anymore where you are), and I love the necklace. Sigh, so pretty! :)

    xox Sammi
    www.thesoubrettebrunette.blogspot.com

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  17. Oh my goodness, that dress is so adorable! What an excellent thrift find - is that from the store you keep finding great stuff at down the street from your new place?

    And your camera seems to be working so well - that first pictures is too gorgeous for words!

    xoxo,
    Laura
    http://lauraisthriftingthroughlife.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you! And no, it wasn't, but it is from a markets which runs every weekend, which is only a 10 minute bus trip away from my new house so it's basically just as dangerous... heheh

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  18. Lovely outfit!
    And fascinating stuff about chimeras...I remember reading about that years and years ago, probably in homeschool science somewhere. I find it particularly interesting especially after being obsessed with the mythological chimeras (and, ya know...just about every other mythical creature) as a kid.

    ~Vicki
    Decked Out in Ruffles

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  19. This hat is well matching with your outfit and your hair colour, this is a best choice.

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  20. these pictures are so sweet and you look lovely!

    Sarah
    xoxo

    http://absolutelysarahx.blogspot.com

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  21. Sorry. I do not mean to romanticize here but ...
    well maybe there is something interesting imagination here.
    good article. I long to understand it may be helpful. success for us all

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  22. gorgeous! just absolutely gorgeous.

    christen
    fashionplatecheapskate.blogspot.com

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  23. Take pics on sunshine looks so perfect. And, i loved the dress.. So stunning. And... Thank you so much for comment on my blog. Really, you make my day.

    nasty-lady.blogspot.com

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  24. these photos are wonderful!! I haven't actually been able to take photos of myself in a public place like a park, too shy! But must give it a go some time! :) xx

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  25. This outfit is really too flawless

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  26. Have you ever considered dyeing your real hair this color? It's absolutely gorgeous on you!

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    Replies
    1. definitely! But my real hair isn't this thick or long... maybe when it gets longer, I will. Thank you, though! :)

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