When a DNA Test Says You’re a Younger Man, Who Lives 5,000 Miles Away

The New York Times ^ | 07 Dec 2019 | Heather Murphy

[Theoria]

After a bone marrow transplant, a man with leukemia found that his donor’s DNA traveled to unexpected parts of his body. A crime lab is now studying the case.

Three months after his bone marrow transplant, Chris Long of Reno, Nev., learned that the DNA in his blood had changed. It had all been replaced by the DNA of his donor, a German man he had exchanged just a handful of messages with.

He’d been encouraged to test his blood by a colleague at the Sheriff’s Office, where he worked. She had an inkling this might happen. It’s the goal of the procedure, after all: Weak blood is replaced by healthy blood, and with it, the DNA it contains.

But four years after his lifesaving procedure, it was not only Mr. Long’s blood that was affected. Swabs of his lips and cheeks contained his DNA — but also that of his donor. Even more surprising to Mr. Long and other colleagues at the crime lab, all of the DNA in his semen belonged to his donor. “I thought that it was pretty incredible that I can disappear and someone else can appear,” he said.

Mr. Long had become a chimera, the technical term for the rare person with two sets of DNA. The word takes its name from a fire-breathing creature in Greek mythology composed of lion, goat and serpent parts. Doctors and forensic scientists have long known that certain medical procedures turn people into chimeras, but where exactly a donor’s DNA shows up — beyond blood — has rarely been studied with criminal applications in mind.

[Theoria]

Fascinating. Another question will go unanswered.

'The specifics of Mr. Long’s situation raise an inevitable question: What happens if he has a baby? Would he pass on the genes of his German donor or his own to future offspring? In this case, the answer will remain untested because Mr. Long had a vasectomy after his second child was born. '

[Theoria]

‘In 2004, investigators in Alaska uploaded a DNA profile extracted from semen to a criminal DNA database. It matched a potential suspect. But there was a problem: The man had been in prison at the time of the assault. It turned out that he had received a bone marrow transplant. The donor, his brother, was eventually convicted.’

[Paladin2]

Darwin knew not about DNA, much less other bodily biochemicals, proteins, etc.

It’s a Jungle...

[tinyowl]

A little disquieting ... but kewel.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Theoria. Looks like the Slimes is just shopping around some memes to cover for Lizzie Warren's baldfaced lie.

• Warren Admits She Shouldn't Have Claimed To Be Native American: 'I Shouldn't Have Done It,'

[Redcitizen]

Would be interesting if he got physiologically younger. Not a lot but some due to the youth of the donor.

[petitfour]

Very interesting!

[Larry Lucido]

A lot of Darwin awards may have to be returned.

[stormhill]

You thinking what I’m thinking?

[lee martell]

Vampires!
But not for the blood alone.

[Redcitizen]

No need for Viagra?

[Jamestown1630]

And what if his donor had been female (can they even do that?)

We always say that biological sex is determined by DNA...

[stormhill]

Well, imagine someone rich like Soros seeking to live in perpetuity...

Or maybe I watched too much Sci-Fi in my youth.

[Theoria]

'Similar scenarios could also create confusion around a victim’s identity — and in fact it has, said Yongbin Eom, a visiting research scholar at the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification. In 2008, he was trying to identify the victim of a traffic accident for the National Forensic Service in Seoul, South Korea. Blood showed that the individual was female. But the body appeared to be male, which was confirmed by DNA in a kidney, but not in the spleen or the lung, which contained male and female DNA. Eventually, he figured out that the victim had received a bone marrow transplant from his daughter.'

[SunkenCiv]

The Mum Made of TWO Women
The Sun [UK] | November 13, 2003 | Brian Flynn
Posted on 11/13/2003 6:24:42 PM PST by quidnunc
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1021334/posts

[Robert DeLong]

Since his entire sperm supposedly caries only the DNA of his donor, then his offspring would biological reflect the donor as their biological father.

[coaster123]

People who carry an undeveloped twin in their bodies have two sets of DNA. That makes me wonder about the DNA cleared and released convicts.

[Jamestown1630]

We are living in a very strange new world.

[Dave Wright]

Anything like blood, sweat, semen, or even breast milk that is a a blood product would contain the donor’s DNA. A woman with a male donor would actually show up as a male (XY chromosomes) in a DNA test. Might be a great way to commit the perfect crime.

[Larry Lucido]

Same thing can happen with a urine test.

Peterman : Elaine, according to your urine analysis, you're menopausal. you have the metabolism of a 68 year old woman. Oh, and one more thing. You may have osteoporosis.