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What Is Chimerism?
Written by Erica Cirino on November 29, 2018

Prevalence Causes Symptoms Diagnosis

Facts Headlines Outlook

Overview
Ancient Greek mythology includes stories of a
fire-breathing creature called a chimera. This
fearsome beast was a mix between a lion, goat,
and serpent.

But chimeras are not just a part of mythology. In

real life, chimeras are animals or humans that
contain the cells of two or more individuals. Their
bodies contain two different sets of DNA.
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How common is it?

Experts aren’t sure how many human chimeras
exist in the world. But the condition is believed to
be quite rare. It could be becoming more common
with certain fertility treatments like in vitro
fertilization, but this isn’t proven.

Only about 100 or so cases of chimerism have

been recorded in modern medical literature.

Chimerism can also affect nonhuman animals.

Often, it causes two distinct types of colorings on
different halves of the same animal, such as two
different-colored eyes.

What causes chimerism?

People may experience one of several types of
chimerism. Each has a slightly different cause and
may result in different symptoms.

Microchimerism

In humans, chimerism most commonly occurs

when a pregnant woman absorbs a few cells from
her fetus. The opposite may also happen, where a
fetus absorbs a few cells from its mother.

These cells may travel into the mother’s or fetus’s

bloodstream and migrate to different organs. They
may remain in a mother’s body or a child’s body
for a decade or more following childbirth. This
condition is called microchimerism.

Artificial chimerism

A similar kind of chimerism can occur when a

person receives a blood transfusion, stem cell
transplant, or bone marrow transplant from
another person and absorbs some of that
person’s cells. This is called artificial chimerism.

Artificial chimerism was more common in the past.

Today, transfused blood is usually treated with
radiation. This helps the transfusion or transplant
recipient better absorb the new cells without
permanently incorporating them into their body.

Twin chimerism

A more extreme form of chimerism can occur

when a pair of twins is conceived and one embryo
dies in the womb. The surviving fetus may absorb
some of the cells of its deceased twin. This gives
the surviving fetus two sets of cells: its own, and
some of its twin’s.

Tetragametic chimerism

In other cases, human chimeras develop when

two different sperm cells fertilize two different egg
cells. Then, these cells all fuse together into one
human embryo with crossed cell lines. This is
called tetragametic chimerism.
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What are the symptoms of

chimerism?
The symptoms of chimerism vary from person to
person. Many with this condition show no signs, or
they may not recognize these signs as chimerism.
Some symptoms include:

hyperpigmentation (increased skin darkness)

or hypopigmentation (increased skin
lightness) in small patches or across areas as
large as half of the body

two different-colored eyes

genitals that have both male and female

parts (intersex), or that look sexually unclear
(this sometimes results in infertility)

two or more sets of DNA present in the

body’s red blood cells

possible autoimmune issues, such as those

related to the skin and nervous system

How is chimerism diagnosed?

People most often discover they are chimeras by
accident. There are cases of chimerism that have
been discovered during genetic testing for
medical reasons other than chimerism, such as for
organ transplants.

Genetic tests can help uncover whether or not a

person’s blood cells contain DNA that’s not
present in the rest of their bodies. Multiple sets of
DNA in the bloodstream are a classic sign of
chimerism. But people may go their entire life
without knowing they are chimeras because the
condition is rare and people aren’t usually tested
for it.

Interesting facts
Human and animal chimeras can have two
different blood types at the same time. It
may be similar amounts of each blood type.
For example, in one case, a female chimera
had blood that was 61 percent type O and
39 percent type A.

Male tortoiseshell cats are often chimeras.

Their split coloration is the result of two
different embryos fusing together. While it’s
possible for these cats to be fertile, most
often they’re not. This is because the extra
DNA they receive links the trait for their
coloration to infertility.

Human fertility treatments like IVF and

multiple embryo transfer, which sometimes
can cause double pregnancies and twins,
haven’t been proven & to increase a
person’s chance of giving birth to a chimera.

For many chimeras, the mixing of DNA

happens in the blood. But it’s possible for it
to happen elsewhere in the body. This
includes in the sexual reproductive organs.
This means it’s possible for a parent with
chimerism to pass on two or more sets of
DNA to their child. A child may get two sets
of DNA from their mom and one from their
father, for example.

After a bone marrow transplant, a person will

have a mix of DNA from their original blood
cells and those from their donor. In other
cases, their bone marrow may match the
DNA of their donor only. This is because
bone marrow continues to regenerate.

Microchimerism going from a fetus to a

mother may happen in almost every
pregnant woman, according to researchers.
In one small study, all women who died
while pregnant or within one month of giving
birth had fetal cells in some of their body
tissues. Experts are not sure exactly what
effects this chimerism has on the mother and
child.
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High-profile cases
A small number of chimera stories have appeared
in popular news headlines over the past few
decades.

Recently, a singer from California named Taylor

Muhl was profiled as a chimera. She reports that
she has twin chimerism, meaning she absorbed
some of her twin’s cells while she was in her
mother’s womb. This has left her with a half-white,
half-reddish pigmentation on the skin covering
her abdomen, according to Live Science.

In another recent story, a male chimera failed a

paternity test because the DNA his child inherited
came from the twin he absorbed in the womb.

Similarly, a mother didn’t pass a maternity test for

the baby she gave birth to for the same reason:
The DNA she presented in testing wasn’t the
same as the DNA she passed down to her
children. This happens because chimeras can
carry different DNA in different parts of their
bodies, including in their reproductive cells.

What’s the outlook?

Each type of chimera has a different outlook:

For cases of chimerism that cause intersex

features, there’s a risk of infertility.

Twin chimeras may experience an increased

rate of autoimmune disease.

Possible psychological effects (such as

stress and depression) could arise from
chimerism affecting the appearance of the
skin or sexual organs.

There’s no way to eliminate a person’s chimerism.

But getting a better understanding of this
condition can help improve the lives of those
affected by it.

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! 11 sources

Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-

reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and
medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references.
You can learn more about how we ensure our content is
accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Chimerism-testing. (n.d.).
seattlecca.org/healthcare-professionals/clinical-
labs/clinical-immunogenetics-laboratory/chimerism-
testing

Decisions to make about your embryos. (n.d.).

hfea.gov.uk/treatments/explore-all-
treatments/decisions-to-make-about-your-embryos/

Khan F, et al. (2004). Significance of chimerism in

hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: New
variations on an old theme.
nature.com/articles/1704525

Lipsker D, et al. (2008). Between light and dark, the

chimera comes out. DOI:
1001/archderm.144.3.327

Pedersen AS, et al. (2014). A tortoiseshell male cat:

Chromosome analysis and histologic examination of
the testis. DOI:
1159/000356466

Rijnink EC, et al. (2015). Tissue microchimerism is

increased during pregnancy: A human autopsy study.
DOI:
1093/molehr/gav047

Ruiz AS, et al. (2009). Prevalence of chimerism after

non-myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell
transplantation.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20169272

Simon-Buoy B, et al. (2003). Possible human chimera

detected prenatally after in vitro fertilization: A case
report. DOI:
1002/pd.733

Subramanyam P. (2014). Chimras could bridge the gap

between treatment and cure or are they your silent
and deadly twin?
clinicalcorrelations.org/2014/08/08/chimeras-could-
bridge-the-gap-between-treatment-and-cure-or-are-
they-your-silent-and-deadly-twin/

Yu N, et al. (2002). Disputed maternity leading to

identification of tetragametic chimerism. DOI:
1056/NEJMoa013452

Yunis EJ, et al. (2007). Chimerism and tetragametic

chimerism in humans: Implications in autoimmunity,
allorecognition and tolerance.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17917028

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